Somebody That I Used to Know
by esl1852
Summary: Clove and Cato were not supposed to enter the games together. They struggle to accept the way things are, and that what they feel to each other isn't abnormal; they care. Will it matter in the end? Suck at summaries, please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

Right as the sun began to rise in District 2, some light spilled through the window of Clove's house. As soon as the light from her open window fell upon her face, Clove's eyes opened. She knew what today was; it was reaping day, and although she should be excited, she was almost indifferent in a way. This was not her year to volunteer and unless by some miracle her name was pulled, which was actually a pretty slim chance, she would not be going in to the Arena this year; an 18 year-old girl named Deanna Rey had been chosen this year. So not only was Clove not going to the Hunger Games like she was itching to, but there would be no training today. And she saw no reason to waste a day of training on watching someone else get chosen as Tribute.

Oh well, Clove thought, sighing to herself, reaching under her pillow in order to feel the smooth metal of her favorite knife to comfort herself. She felt her breath catch in her throat when she realized it wasn't there. It was only then that she realized something, or more specifically someone, else was missing from her bed. She reached a hand behind her and felt nothing but air. Did he leave before she decided to wake? He'd never done that before. He never usually worried about leaving considering her parents were never home; that was the reason they had their little sleep overs at her place. Her parents were very important people, whose jobs rarely allowed them to be at home. When they were, Clove tended not to be. They were not the most loving parents in the world.

"Looking for something?" A low and pleasant voice came from the part of her bedroom that was still untouched by the rising sun's rays. She shot up, turning towards where she had heard his voice, narrowing her eyes. He hadn't left like she had thought, which made her feel better, but she was still not satisfied considering she was pretty sure he had taken possession of her favorite knife. Even though he was still shrouded in darkness, she spotted him in an armchair against the wall; or more specifically, she caught the glinting of her knife as he turned it over again and again in his hands.

"Cato, I understand that today is an exciting day for you," She started, grabbing her very sheer robe from her bed post, putting it on over her undergarments. It was Cato's year to volunteer for the games, and while she was supportive of her training partner, she was also very jealous. The fact that he took her favorite knife from her while she was sleeping just added insult to injury. "but what have I told you about taking my knives?" She stood up, moving very slowly towards him. "As I recall, it had something to do with it being hazardous for your health."

"Well sometimes I find it 'hazardous to my health' to sleep next to you and your knife." He said as she approached him. She kept up her glare, waiting for him to make an acceptable excuse as to why in the world she shouldn't cut off his hands. "You tried to stab me in your sleep again." She glanced over at her bed and noticed that there was an unmistakable slit in the pillow on the left side of her bed; exactly where Cato's head had been at one point.

She looked back at him and rose an eyebrow, cocking her head to the side. "Well I can just as easily stab you now that I'm awake if you don't hand my knife over."

"And if I don't?" He said playfully.

She tried to keep calm as she grit her teeth together. Then she forced a very unnatural, sickly-sweet smile onto her face. "Today is a special day for you; don't make me have to stab you."

He rolled his eyes, holding out her knife. She snatched it out of his hand and held it tightly, feeling her temper calm as she was able to focus more whenever she was holding on to a knife. "You know, you should be nicer to me. Today is the last day you might ever see me." He said to her with such sarcasm that she contained her need to roll her eyes; they both knew he would most likely win the Hunger Games this year.

"Oh please." She said, turning away from him. "We both know you'll be back, unfortunately."

"Do I sense some jealousy?" Cato said, and she could just hear the smirk in his voice. "Don't be so impatient Clove, you've only got one more year." As he stood up only an inch or two behind her, she felt his hand run up the sides of her body. Her breathing intensified as his hands reached her shoulders. He gripped her robe and tugged on it slightly, and it fell at his feet. She was suddenly very aware that he was also shirtless at the moment, and very little clothing was between their two bodies. "You'll get to feel the joy of slicing open fresh flesh soon enough." She felt his hands go around her neck and her eyes fluttered shut as she bit down hard on her bottom lip. "Besides; this way I won't have to kill you, and we can continue our game."

"Who says I'll be waiting to play when you come back?" She said in a breathy way that she hated. It made her sound weak and told him he was getting under her skin and turning her on in the way no one else could. Nothing and no one besides her knives and Cato made her really feel anything. "Who says I won't have just moved on to some new toy?" In order to make her point and make herself feel more in control, she shot the hand that held her favorite knife back towards his face, she stopped it right under his chin, knowing she could never reach as high as his face. He dwarfed her in a way that made her feel like she a child.

He immediately grabbed her wrist with one hand, leaving the other around her neck; he quickly turned her around to face him, and then slammed her against the wall so hard he knocked the wind out of her. For most girls, this would be something scary. For Clove, it was something sexy. She tried desperately to keep hold of her knife, to keep herself focused enough not to lose control the way he loved to make her; the wild side of Clove was usually locked away very tightly, but something about their bedroom encounters unleashed it. She had an animal desire for him. It wasn't love she didn't think; at least not the usual kind. She definitely knew she didn't love him for his intelligence; he was more of a brute force, strong and manly sort of guy. Not only was he the only person who could turn her on, but he was really the only person she found she could truly stand instead of just tolerate for any extended period of time. That, and she admired his ruthlessness and his desire to win.

He pressed his body against her, bringing her out of her thoughts. "I know that you won't get any new toy, because you would break them all too easily." He spat at her.

It was Clove's turn to smirk. "Now Cato, am I sensing some jealously?" She said condescendingly.

"Oh trust me, I'm not." He said to her, his eyes fixated on her own. "Do you wanna know why?" She didn't respond because she felt his grip tighten on her wrist and she was trying to resist doing what he wanted, which was dropping her knife. "Because I am the only one who doesn't bore you."

"Are you sure about that?" She said.

"Do you wanna know how else I know?" He said, his own breathing heavy with a crazed look in his eye that drove her crazy. She knew she was not the only one getting turned on. "Because I'm the only one who is as sick and twisted as you are." He said, and he tightened his grip on her neck (not enough to seriously hurt her, but enough that she felt some bruises forming). She knew she was proving his point but she could help it; she arched into him, biting her lip to hold in a moan. "See? Twisted." Looking into his eyes was not helping her hold on to her self control. She turned her head to the side, trying not to look at him. "Oh no you don't." He said, taking the hand that was around her neck, gripping her chin roughly, forcing her to look at him. He then lowered his face to her own, but instead of kissing her, he moved his mouth to her ear. "Drop the knife." His voice was rough, commanding. His breath on her neck was almost to much, and he let his lips graze her neck.

"No." She tried to say strongly, but it came out like a whine. She knew it was stupid, but she did not like conceding to what Cato wanted. If she dropped the knife, it would be of her own accord. It was part of the game they played; it was always a battle of wills.

She felt him smirk against her skin. He bit her neck, and she felt her last little bit of self control disappearing. His hand went back around her neck as he bit her earlobe, and she knew she was a gonner. She gasped and dropped the knife. "Fuck Cato, I hate you so much sometimes."

He pulled back and looked at her face. " I know you do." He whispered with no sarcasm in his voice. He even sounded sad; but she shook that notion immediately. Cato didn't give in to such pathetic emotions as sadness.

"Well? You got your way. So what are you gonna do about it?" She asked, using her free hand to pull herself up enough to wrap both her legs around his waist. He grinned, answering her question by grinding himself against her, her eyes fluttering shut once more. He couldn't hold out any longer and snaked an arm around her waist, letting his lips crash down onto hers. Clove smirked a little into his lips as she let her own arms snake around his shoulders; it was a small victory for her, him caving to kiss her first, but it was still a victory.

She knew it pissed him off that he had let himself cave; she felt it in the rough way he kissed her. He pulled her away from the wall, unclasping her black lace bra, never separating his lips from hers as he ripped the bra off of her roughly. Their hands were all over each others bodies, scratching and bruising each other.

He took her roughly by the waist when they reached the bed, throwing her down hard. He saw the wild glint in her eyes that meant that the psycho that Clove became when he unleashed her wild side had come to play. He straddled her, pulling her up against his body with on hand, holding them up with the other. She cupped his face, pulling him into a kiss. She bit his lip, making him groan. She then pulled him down to the bed completely, forcing him to press his body against hers. He bit her lip, drawing blood, and then pulled his mouth away from hers. He then weaved his fingers into her hair, grabbing her hair and forcing her head back, giving himself access to her neck. As he attacked her neck with his mouth, she scratched his back so hard that she drew blood. As soon as he moved his mouth away from her neck and to her ear, she tried to pull herself together. "Getting a little crazy there?" He whispered into her ear, breaking the little self-control that she had managed to grab onto. "Don't hold back. You know I like it best when you let your real insanity out." Right as he said that she scratched agains his back, and he let out a huge moan in her ear, "Clove."

Him moaning her name sent her over the edge. In seconds, she was on top of him. She looked down at the desire in his eyes as she pinned his hands to the bed. She wished that desire was for more than just something physical that both of the used to relieve the stress of their everyday lives. But it wasn't, she reminded herself as she teased him, biting his neck hard, running her tongue all over his body, not letting him buck his hips up against her. She let her mind wander again, and she even could swear that if she looked deep enough, she saw the falsity in that look of desire in his eyes. All he wanted was... well to get what he wanted. She wasn't sure why it bothered her, but she quickly forgot when he had sat up, while she still straddled him, pulling her body against his. He had gotten tired of her teasing him and not letting him touch as she dangled herself over him. They fell back to the bed like that, doing the one thing that relieved both of their anger and frustrations at the world on each other. Most of their anger and frustrations came from each other, but they didn't understand those emotions, so they ignored them, dissolving into the physical pleasure they provided one another.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, so I have been working really hard to capture cato and clove in a realistic way; a way tht i feel could actually have happened during the books. Let me know how you think Im doing so far! Idk why but I just love this couple.

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Clove could tell that Cato was currently in a blind rage in the room right beside her. She knew that much for sure because she could it hear it through the thin walls of the Justice Building; him yelling obscenities, punching things, throwing anything he could get his hands on and basically just being as destructive as possible. What she didn't understand is why he was so angry. He had gotten what he had always wanted. He was District 2's male tribute for the Hunger Games this year. He would be going into the arena. But_ be careful what you wish for_ applied to the current situation in a way that made Clove feel sick to her stomach. Yes she wanted to go to the Hunger Games, and she had been jealous of Cato and Deanna getting their chance this year. But she hadn't realized how dangerous that thinking was until it was too late. Because somehow, the Academy's plan went awry, and now Clove was also getting what she had been waiting for her whole life; only it was a little premature given the circumstances. Clove would also be going into the arena this year and eventually would be faced with the difficult task of murdering Cato, the boy she had grown... not necessarily to like, but to tolerate (at least more so than anyone else). That thought felt surprisingly unsettling and unpleasant to her.

She thought back to the reaping that had taken place earlier this morning, knowing nobody would be coming to visit her, she allowed herself to be fully enveloped in her reflections.

_Clove stood mixed in with the other 15-year-old girls, all a-buzz with fear and excitement. Clove herself, had honestly never been more bored in her entire life. She was just waiting for this to be over. What would she do at the end of the reaping? She wasn't sure yet._

_She thought she might go say goodbye to Cato, tell him to win, to come back so she didn't have to be bored with all the sane and droll other people in her district. He had been right about how he was the only one who didn't bore her, but telling him that would only inflate his ego to an unbearable size and that was not a very appealing idea._

_Even though she knew she should probably say something before Cato left for the games, she had a feeling she would most likely head off to some remote area and throw knives until he had left. Clove had never been one to have emotions, let alone express them. But it was Cato who shook her world up, and that freaked her the fuck out. There was a part of her hoping that he would die in the arena so she could return to the cold emotionless person she was used to being. But there was another part of her, a deeper part, that hoped, no that knew, he could and would win the games._

_Clove had been so lost in her musings, that she had not realized the annoying incessant giggling of a few girls around her until one of them had bumped into her. "Watch it." Clove snapped at the little blonde beside her impatiently._

_Normally these girls would fear her, but the blonde who had nudged her, apparently on purpose, gave her an amused look at Cloves' response. This infuriated Clove, but the blonde (who now looked more fearful), hesitantly explained, "The hot blonde guy from the Academy, he wanted me to get your attention." Clove rolled her eyes. That really didn't help her much since there were many blonde guys in the academy. However, out of sheer curiosity, she craned her neck to see who they were giggling about like brainless morons._

_What she saw surprised her. It was Cato who had gotten the bumbling, blonde idiots to get her attention. Clove shot him a questioning look. 'What?' She mouthed at him, feeling her expression get very unpleasant. She remembered earlier getting dressed for the reaping and he had mocked her for picking a lavender sundress with flowers on it that tied around the waist to wear to the reaping. She still wore it now, mostly to piss him off. She had even braided her hair back and gone for a fresh-faced innocent look. He hated it when she did that. He felt it didn't quite capture her spirit in the correct way, considering her spirit was one of a psycho, sadistic, masochistic bitch. That comment had earned him a cut on his neck from her favorite knife, which pleased her to see it was still bleeding slightly. Why did Clove care if she didn't look like her true self? She wasn't even getting Reaped this year, so it didn't really matter all that much to her._

_This time, he rolled his eyes as Clove glared. He just mouthed, "See me after, ok?" She knew she must've looked skeptical because he looked almost pleading (something he never looked like), "Please?"_

_Hesitantly Clove nodded, and the annoying girls around her dissolved into giggles again. She was seriously considering breaking the rules of killing outside of the arena right as the irritating Capitol lady stepped onto the stage. Wanda Renoir. Idiot. "Welcome, Welcome, to the reaping of the 74th Annual Hunger Games. I am so excited to see all of your eager faces once more. Let's not waste any time getting started. Remember, may the odds be ever in your favor!" She walked over to one of the big glass bowls, saying, "Ladies first!" In that obnoxious, high-pitched voice of hers. She fished around and pulled a name out, walking back to the middle of the stage. She opened the slip of folded paper, and then said clearly, "Clove Carson!"_

_Clove's eyes widened with excitement as clove thought to herself, 'Me. She had said me. My name. Me.' Before she even finished saying her name, Clove darted towards the stage. But before she had even climbed the stairs, she realized that any second, Deanna would volunteer, and she would lose my chance. Clove didn't falter, but she felt the excitement dull as she climbed the stairs. Wanda called for any volunteers. Clove waited, and waited... and waited. But nothing. She searched the crowd and saw Deanna shift uncomfortably, looking at the ground. Clove narrowed her eyes, and stared her down. Deanna would not meet her gaze. Clove knew Deanna had been pressured into the Academy by her parents, and when she was faced with the opportunity to go in to the arena she had faltered and lost her nerve. 'Coward.' Clove thought to herself, letting the excitement of being Tribute take over her as Wanda moved on with the reaping. Clove felt elated, but also like she was forgetting something, something vital._

_It was only when Wanda drew some sickly looking 12-year-old boy's name out, and someone cried "I volunteer!" before he even reached the stage did Clove realize what she had forgotten. Cato walked up to the stage, sauntering up as if he owned the town square. Clove only let it slip for a moment, but then she forced her smirk back on her face. She had not seen Cato's anguish before when she had been chosen and Deanna didn't volunteer. She had not seen he himself falter before finally shouting that he volunteered. He did not see the look of pure shock and misery on Clove's face when she realized too late what had happened. They were both going to be entering the arena together. Which meant their games were over. In three short weeks, one of them would be dead._

_When the shook hands, Clove saw a hard look in Cato's eye. He held her hand so tightly it almost crushed her hand, but she didn't flinch, instead she just dug her nails into his hand in return._

Something made out of glass crashing agains the wall in Cato's waiting room brought Clove out of her reverie, making her jump. She rolled her eyes, letting out a sigh. Cato was so predictable. When things didn't go the way he wanted, he lost control and had a temper tantrum like a small child would.

After an indefinable amount of time had passed, the peacekeepers came and escorted them both to the train. Once they were on board with their escort and mentors, Cato stormed of to his room without a word to anyone. Wanda looked offended, and Enobaria and Brutus (their mentors) looked to Clove for an explanation.

"Well what was all that about?" Wanda said.

Clove found herself rolling her eyes again (she noticed she was doing that a lot lately), saying "Cato is throwing a temper tantrum, because he is apparently a five year old." Enobaria raised her eyebrows, and Brutus looked really confused. Clove went on to explain further, "This is not how things were supposed to go. He doesn't like it when things don't go his way."

"Well it seems that you know him." Enobaria stated.

"He's my training partner." Clove said, right as there was a crash from somewhere a little ways down the train. Without another word, she turned around and followed the noises to a door which she took to be Cato's room. Before Clove had even fully entered the room he had grabbed her by her upper arms and slammed her up against the wall.

He had a wild look in his eyes, different from any she had ever seen before. He looked like he had lost complete control. They stayed like that, the only sound being their breathing, for what seemed like forever. For the first time in a while, Clove actually felt a little... not scared, but nervous. Finally Clove broke the silence. "Throwing a temper tantrum won't make things go your way Cato. Pull yourself together." She said in a reproachful tone.

"But it's not fair! This wasn't supposed to happen." He shouted. Clove knew he could be childish, but this was getting a little ridiculous.

"Life isn't fair. Get over it." Clove hissed harshly. "Because you acting like a small child is most definitely not going to change anything."

In hindsight, that was a mistake, considering she knew how unstable of a person Cato was. He pulled her away from the wall, throwing her against it again, causing her head to smack against the wall painfully. She saw stars as he shouted in her face. "But it's not fair! Deanna was supposed to volunteer! I could've won! Killing her would be easy! I didn't mind her, but I could've snapped her neck in a second and not thought twice about it."

Suddenly it dawned on her what this explosion was about. She said what he wouldn't. "But you couldn't kill me?" He refused to look at her, letting her go, pushing away from her, turning away. "Cato?" She said, touching his shoulder. He pushed her down to the ground roughly, standing over her.

"WHY DID THEY HAVE TO CHOSE YOU?" He screamed, getting in her face once more.

She shrugged. "They did. That's the fact. You can't change it. The question is, how will you handle it?" He thought for a second, then grabbed her by the arm, pulling her up off of the floor, and crashed his lips down on her with a sense of urgency. She threw her arms around him, kissing him back just as roughly. He pulled her with him, and they once again fell to the bed. She let him take his anger out this way, and she realized even she was probably taking a little of her own anger at the situation out on him as well.

Later on, after they had made sure to bruise each other thoroughly for the next day, they laid tangled together, Cato's arms around her. Out of nowhere Clove spoke. "If it makes you feel any better, killing you is not necessarily something I want to do."

She felt him shift a bit, looking at her in a way she didn't quite understand. But she felt uncomfortable under the gaze. "You say that," he said, moving a bit of hair out of her face. "however we both know when the time comes, you'd still do it."

Clove wasn't sure why, but she felt offended. "And you really think if it was down to us, you wouldn't kill me?"

He shifted once more, putting his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling. "I don't know." He said honestly, she could see a far off look on his face as he was deep in thought. "You've been a pain in my ass from the first day they made you my training partner."

Clove snorted a laugh, "Oh yea, and being your partner has been a total cake-walk for me too."

Cato ignored her though, still deep in his own thoughts. "Some days, I wanted to throttle you. I wanted to slice your throat open with my sword and say 'Who's the clever one now, little Clover?'" Clove shivered at his words. "And I know you've thought more than once about mutilating me with your knives." She felt herself grow hot at his words, she wasn't sure why though. He was right. She had thought about it. Whenever he bested her in practices; or whenever he had been extremely difficult to deal with, which was often. "And I know sometimes, you honestly hate me as much as I hate you." He said. "And yet, here we are, lying next to each other, without malicious intentions." For someone who was brute force, he was being strangely insightful. It's like he knew her from the inside; like he was her, or a different version of her.

"Cato. This doesn't change things." Clove said, propping herself up on her elbows to look at him. "The way we... feel won't change the situation we've gotten into." Clove spat the word "feel" like it was a curse... to her it seemed like one. Until Cato, she didn't really know what feeling was.

He looked up at her. "I know. I also know that you understand what it means to my parents and my brothers... and what it means to me. I know I shouldn't have volunteered... but it was my last chance and I was born to-"

"I know, Cato. I don't blame you." She said for the first time since...ever. "I blame Deanna, because she is a spineless coward." Clove continued on honestly. "But, I couldn't help but feel excited to go into the arena, even though-"

"Yea I get it." Cato said, letting his head fall back down on the pillow. "I know you better than you think I do." She looked away, and he caught her movements, but didn't comment. "I also know how much it means to you, even though you won't say it." She looked back at him. "It's because of them." Clove knew who he meant without him even needing to clarify. Her parents. She looked away again. "They were terrible to you when they were around. That's why you are so glad they aren't there most of the time. They pressured you to do this, to be this. You want to win, to go home and show them you did it and didn't need their help. That you don't need them and you never did."

Clove felt too close to Cato right now. He did know her better than she thought; he'd paid more attention to her over the years that she had thought he had. Suddenly she felt like this whole "sharing time" they had going on was just way too much for her to handle. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and grabbed for her bra, but his hand shot out, holding hers tightly. "No. Don't do that."

"Do what?" She said, pretending she wasn't just about to leave.

"Don't leave just because this is too much for you right now. It's too much for me to, ok? I don't wanna feel at all. But I do for you, even if it is twisted." He said, and she could tell how uncomfortable he was saying all this, he almost seemed like he was in pain just saying the words.

Clove tried to hide it but she couldn't help but smirk at him. She let him pull her back down to the bed. She straddled him, sliding her hands down his stomach, feeling the muscles tense under her touch. "Wow Cato," she said in that way that seemed like she was turned on, but there was an edge. "I didn't know you had become so... WEAK!" She shouted, laughing hard, knowing it would piss him off.

"Hey, watch it, you!" He growled.

"Oh I'm so scared!" She taunted him.

He flipped her over, pinning her down with a growl, causing her to shriek with delight. He didn't mention, as he kissed her roughly enough to bruise her lips, that she was just as weak as he was. But he knew saying that would make her close off and stop talking to him, stop being with him. He didn't want to risk that considering how short of an amount of time they had. He was gonna enjoy it while he could.


	3. Chapter 3

When Clove woke up, she was very disoriented. She knew Cato was lying beside her, but that was the only familiar thing about her current situation. She was in a room very unlike either of their own rooms, her knife was nowhere to be found, and she could've sworn for a second that they were moving, although she wasn't sure. She saw the door to the mystery room and realized where she was. She was in Cato's bedroom on the train. On the way to the Hunger Games. She laid back down, looking up at the ceiling, allowed herself to feel the excitement wash over her in a way she hadn't before.

Yes, Cato was here too. That part displeased her. But she couldn't worry about something she couldn't change at this point. She just pushed the negative into the back of her mind, and allowed herself a small external smile, something she did not do very often. She was finally going to be doing what she had trained to do her entire life. Cato was right when he said she was trying to prove she could do this on her own. Her parents would see. She was going to become a victor. But doing it on her own would be hard now that Cato was here. She was very competitive with Cato because he was her training partner. And he had this nasty habit of always trying to best her, and sometimes it went so far that in order to best her, he would end up helping her. Her bad thoughts returned to the forefront of her mind, and she frowned again.

"You know," Cato's voice startled her; she hadn't known he was awake. She almost jumped, silently cursing at herself for not noticing his change in breathing; slipping up like that in the games could get her killed. "you always look so sadistic, or serious, or angry." She glared at him. "But then, when you think no one is looking, you smile, and I mean really smile. And I love it when you look like that."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Cato, what have I told you about being weak now that we are in the games?"

"It's not weak. It's an observation. And maybe if you didn't look so pissed off all the time I wouldn't even notice. It wouldn't be bad for you to be more pleasant; it would probably help us to get sponsors if you did." He said, frustrating her.

Before she could answer, there was a series of light knocks on Cato's door. "Cato, dear!" Clove groaned at their escort, Wanda's, extremely shrill voice. She buried her face in a pillow. "It's time to wake up! We are almost to the Capitol! Tick tock goes the clock, hurry up or you won't get any breakfast!"

"Well Cato, you won't have to worry about going into the arena with me." Clove said, looking up at him, as he looked back at her in confusion. "Because you see, I will not be making it that far; nope, I will kill Wanda before we get there, and I hear that sort of thing is frowned upon."

Cato snorted a laugh at Clove's inability to get along with other people. "Clove, I know she's annoying and all, but you need to start trying not to hate everyone you meet."

"But why not? Why does that even matter at this point?" Cato was surprised to hear Clove's voice hitch; it was the closest to whining he had ever heard her come to.

"Because, Clove, in order for us to get sponsors we have to get people to like us, okay?" He said, putting both his hands on either side of her face. "You want to win, don't you?" She nodded. "Okay, well can you just try not to hate everyone you meet?"

Clove sighed. "Fine." She said pouting. "But it would be easier if people weren't so damn irritating."

"There's nothing wrong with pretending you like them, even if you don't. That way you can use the people and things around you to help you win the games. Okay?" He said.

"Okay." She agreed.

"Brilliant." He said, kissing her on the forehead.

When Cato didn't answer Wanda, she knocked again, more urgently. "Oh keep your skirt on, Wanda." Cato called. "We're coming!" He said, standing up, ignoring Clove's protests.

"Excuse me! How rude, young man. You really must work on your manners!" Wanda shouted shrilly through the door. Clove threw on her purple dress, watching Cato grimace; he hated the dress, and she loved that it irritated him. "And until I... wait, a moment, what do you mean by we?"

"Cato." Clove said, and he looked over at her as he pulled his boxers on. "I know you hate this dress and all, but could you maybe zip me up and tie it for me, since I have no other clothes in here. And I would rather not go commando, although it would freak out Wanda..." She momentarily dwelled on the idea before going on to say, "Well?"

His grimace deepened, but he made his way over to her after he had pulled on and zipped his pants up. She turned around and looked at them in the mirror on the wall opposite her. He came up right behind her, and towered over her, once again reminding her of just how small she really was. She surveyed the damage on her skin, noticing most of it was hidden by the dress, but there were five little bruises on her right thigh right above her knee, that looked to be the size of Cato's fingers. She smirked; Cato did have a way of leaving a mark on her.

Cato pulled the zipper up slowly, barely touching her skin. The gentleness was so unlike him. It was then that he spun her around, grabbing the ties of her dress roughly, crossing them behind her, pulling her towards him so that their bodies were pressed up against each other. Ah, there was the Cato she was used to.

"I may be tying this dress right now," Cato said in a low, rough voice. "But, if you don't change before we get off this train, I will rip the dress off your body in public." He said, finishing off tying the back of the dress into a bow. "Understood?"

"You are such a drama queen." She said to him, but her breathing was as hard as his.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said, kissing her roughly on the mouth before letting go of her.

They had been ignoring Wanda, but when Cato didn't answer any of Wanda's incessant questions, she went on in that annoying voice of hers. "If you insist on being difficult, I will have to go wake up Clove since she's the only one you don't just grunt at." Cato grabbed a light blue shirt out of the closet, and then opened the door. Wanda's face was priceless.

"Yea, well you won't find me there, although you are welcome to go check." Clove said in her sickly sweet voice.

"And if you must know," Cato said, throwing an arm around Clove before continuing. "Sometimes I do grunt at her." He said suggestively, giving Wanda a wink.

Wanda looked like she had just been told she could no longer get that ridiculous blue lipstick shade she wore every year to the reaping. Her eyes were so wide and round, it looked unnatural. "Well I never!" She shouted, storming off. "Wait until your mentors hear about this!"

Cato and Clove started laughing as they followed her to the dining car. However, Cato was glad when they got there, that it seemed she had not told Enobaria nor Brutus about them. What did Wanda really have anyway? A joke Cato made, and Clove coming out of his room with him? Why couldn't they visit each other without suspicion? Wanda had nothing solid to prove it and if she tried, they would have no problem denying it. It wasn't like he was trying to hide Clove; but he didn't want to be exploited. That was not how Cato worked. He would not let whatever fucked up, confusing thing he had going on with Clove come into the limelight. It was too risky in so many ways.

Arriving in the Capitol was not exciting as everyone would make it out to be. Sure the city was amazing and all. But Clove found herself once again, bored. She did, however, manage to put on a different dress, considering Cato threatened to rip it off in public if she didn't change. Now standing in front of the Capitol people who were waving and shouting, she wore a flowing black dress that clung to her in a way that she most definitely like. He insisted she leave her hair down, but it went back in a ponytail immediately.

Cato smirked at the Capitol idiots, acting like he didn't even need to wave or be friendly. He didn't. Then again, neither did Clove. They were District 2 tributes; Careers. Strong and lethal. So Clove allowed herself to look how she felt; bored. Cato rolled his eyes at her. She either looked bored or pissed, always. It made her hard to read. He hated it, but admired how she could hold onto that look no matter what; not much ever truly phased her.

Once inside the building they would be spending almost all their time in until the games, Cato saw her look change. She was excited to touch knives again. They comforted her. He knew she was just itching to train. They got in their suite, which was their own floor, and she seemed still bored despite its lavishness. All she wanted to do was feel the cold metal blade of a knife in her hands, and he knew that.

For the first time in a while, Clove was the unfocused, explosive one; not having a knife in her hand was putting her on edge. Cato found himself on the other end this time, keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't snap and kill someone.

By the time the night had rolled around, Clove had managed to terrify all the Avoxes; she'd even given Wanda quite a fright. It was clear that things needed to change, and fast. Enobaria turned to Cato for an answer. "Cato, how do I get that training partner of yours to go back to normal?"

"Since when is Clove normal?" Enobaria looked at him in a way that made him think being a smart-ass with her would not get him anywhere. "Okay, you want her to be normal again? let her carry a knife." Enobaria began to protest, but he cut her off. "You want my help or not? I don't mean you have to give her a sharp one, any knife will do, but give her a knife to hold onto. Knives calm her. She sleeps with one under her pillow. If she doesn't get a hold of one soon, she will probably start turning into me and throwing things. She won't make it to training without a knife. Get whatever permission you need, and give her a knife. I guarantee she will be back to normal in no time."

Later that night, Cato was sitting on the edge of his bed. He was not wearing a shirt, because the light blue shirt he had been wearing was not as comfortable as he had hoped. He had his head in his hands, thinking about her. Clove. Clove Carson. Training partner. Pain in the ass. Somehow, they had gone further together than either had ever thought. They went from annoying the shit out of each other daily, to playing a sick game they both enjoyed way too much. A dangerous game, considering where they were now. Something that was honestly no longer even a game, but still very dangerous. They were completely tangled up in one another. Cato knew none of it would end well. But Clove was becoming a necessary drug for him, something as necessary as breathing. He also knew this was very dangerous. None of this was ever supposed to happen. And now, when he should be focusing on training and the games, he was all caught up in Clove, letting his temper control him, and trying to figure out this puzzle.

Suddenly, there was a knock on Cato's door. "What?" He said, hoping to the good lord it wasn't Wanda again. If she gave him one more lecture about manners, he knew he would probably kill her. It wasn't. The door opened, and Clove stood there. "Oh, it's you." Cato knew he wasn't being fair.

"Yea." She said, looking at her feet. It was the first time he had ever seen Clove looking anything but sure and intense.

"Well?" He asked when she didn't say anything. "What do you want, Clove?"

"Nothing." She said, getting annoyed with his obvious irritation towards her. He saw a glint in her hand, and realized she was indeed holding onto a knife. "Forget it." She said, beginning to leave.

"Butter knife?" Cato said with a smirk, unable to help himself. He knew he should just let her walk out thinking he was tired of her. But he couldn't, and he wasn't. He leaned back on the bed, propping himself up with his elbows as he waited for her to respond.

She paused, and looked down at the knife, then back over her shoulder at him. Her face was expressionless. "Yea. Enobaria gave it to me. She said she couldn't give me a throwing knife, but if I happened to keep a butter knife from dinner, it wouldn't be missed."

"She probably doesn't realize just how much damage you could do with that thing." He said, knowing he should just let her walk away, he really needed to. But he felt like he needed her to stay just as much.

Clove turned her whole body back around to face him and leaned against the door, looking down at the knife again, turning it over in her hands. "Yea." He hoped that was the end of it, hoped she would leave. But then, she did it. She smiled. That real smile. Twice in one day? That was rare. And entrancing. The smile was only on her face for a fraction of a second, and was replaced by her bored look almost immediately, but it had happened. And Cato was powerless against it. "Cato, I came her to ask... was it you? Did you say something to Enobaria?"

She looked up at him, and he cocked his head to the side. Instead of answering her, he just motioned for her to come in. She came out of the doorway and closed the door. And she did it of her own free will. She knew that she never had any power against it, against him. She wanted their twisted whirlwind of insanity just as much as he did. He may not have realized it, but her thoughts had been mirroring his all day. That's why not having a knife to calm her had affected her so quickly; she had so much neurosis over Cato and what in the world she was gonna do... and what in the world she was feeling. He never knew how much she had battled herself, for how many hours she had tried to to just focus on the games. But she couldn't, her mind kept wandering back to him. She paced her room earlier for an hour. Then she let herself wander around the train, but ended up at his door. She had stood there for almost a half an hour outside of his door. Trying to pull herself away; trying but not succeeding. She was so torn. In the end, he won out; he always would. He just didn't realize it. He didn't realize any of it. He only knew that she had come there of her own free will. She sought him out. And for now that's all he needed.

The next morning, Cato woke up before Clove for only the second time since he had slept in the same bed as her. He slid out from under her, thanking the lord that he didn't wake her up at all; she would probably cut him pretty bad if he did. He looked down at her, loving how she looked when she slept. Not angry at all, peaceful even, which was something he never saw when she was awake. He let himself reach out and move a stray hair out of her face and stopped suddenly, jerking his hand away. She stirred but didn't wake up. He ran his hand through his hair, realizing Clove was right; he might be getting weak. And it was all because of her. He left Clove to sleep in his bed, standing up, needing to take a lap around the building to clear his head; well, what he really needed was a run, outside, but he knew that wasn't gonna happen anytime soon.

When he walked out of his room, he cast one last look at Clove, before shutting the door. He turned around and almost ran right into Brutus.

Cato waited for Brutus to speak, but then realized that was a stupid thing to do; Brutus had barely said a single word the entire time they had been there. The only things he had said were some key pieces of advice about the games that Cato would not soon forget; other than that though, there was nothing.

"Good morning, Brutus."

Brutus nodded in acknowledgement, and looked over Cato's shoulder. "I get it, you know."

"Get what, sir?" Cato said, knowing what was coming.

"I see the way you look at her. The Carson girl." Brutus leaned up against the wall, looking at Cato in a way that made him severely uncomfortable. "I also happened to be walking down this hall last night right around the time she went into her room last night. I also take it, by the fact that you are out here that she is still in there." Cato felt the full impact of his mentors words. It was like getting hit by a ten ton truck. He knew; Brutus knew. "That girl, your training partner. You are closer than you would ever let on, aren't you?" Cato knew it wasn't really a question, but he chose to respond to it anyways with a hesitant nod.

"I'm not going to tell anyone if that is what's got you all choked up." Brutus said, making Cato relax. "But, I will tell you this; it's a bad idea to continue this. I don't care how long it has been going on, the games change people in the worst way." He said, pushing off the wall. "I guarantee you this; it won't end well. For you or for her. She will be the instrument of your demise. My advice is to keep it a secret, since I can tell that you are stubborn and won't cut things off with her. Don't let people use her against you and don't let her use this against you either." He walked away, and then called over his shoulder. "Oh, and make sure someone else kills her during the games, that way you don't have to." With that, he was gone.

When he was sure Brutus was out of earshot, Cato slammed his fists against the wall repeatedly until they bloodied. Hearing all his fears out loud like that brought his anger to the surface, it was something he could no longer contain. Suddenly, he felt small, nimble hands pull at his waist, his shoulders. "Cato! What the hell is going on? Cato stop! CATO!"

He knew all to well who it was, and for some reason, that only helped to make him angrier. He let out a loud, strange yell as he turned around, ramming her as hard as he could against the wall. As her body slammed so hard against the wall that she let out an involuntary gasp of shock and pain, her eyes wide as she searched for humility in his. "CATO!" She screamed in his face.

"WHAT? WHAT DO YOU WANT, CLOVE? WHAT MORE COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT FROM ME? I HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO GIVE YOU!"

"NOTHING!" She shouted back. "I've never wanted anything more than you were willing to give, and you know it! So don't you dare turn this on me!" He didn't respond for a moment, and she lowered her voice. "What the hell has gotten into you?"

"You, Clove! It's always been you." He tried to keep his temper down, his voice too, but he felt himself begin screaming in her face again. "I MEAN, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO MY HEAD? YOU FUCK THINGS UP CLOVE! YOU ALWAYS HAVE." She looked hurt for only a flash of a second, and he knew he should stop, that he'd gone too far. However, that bored, deadpan look was on her face once more, and he couldn't help it. "IS IT ENOUGH YET? HAVE YOU FINALLY HAD ENOUGH?"

Suddenly, without warning, she kicked his knees. He felt the pain run up his legs and staggered back a few steps. She was on him in a flash, slamming him against the wall for a change. She had caught him off-guard. She pulled her knife out, and pressed it against his throat. There was something in his eyes he had never seen from her before. "Yes, Cato. It's enough." She then pulled back. "I've had enough." With that she turned, walking away.

He did not see her for the rest of the day. Not at lunch. Not when the mentors and Wanda were watching the repeat of the reaping and all the tributes showing up to the Capitol. Not when discussing strategy with Brutus (he assumed she was with Enobaria). Not when Wanda was telling him the schedule for the next day, which would be a day of the tributes parade (the tributes for District 12 still had not arrived on account of how far away from the Capitol their district was). Not even at dinner; apparently she had gotten there before him and left before he arrived.

That night, when he went to his room, he found her black dress still lying there on the ground. He had picked it up, and held it to himself. It smelled of her. He realized what a mistake he made. To hell with what Brutus said. Cato hoped it wasn't too late as he got up and ran to Clove's room with reckless abandon.


	4. Chapter 4

Cato barged into Clove's room without knocking, and almost got hit by a knife that flew right by his head and lodged right into the wall beside him. "Geez, Clove!"

"I've told you not to sneak up on me." She said, staying rooted to her spot, watching him with a careful eye.

"You've told me a lot of things." He said, moving towards her slowly. She countered, moving away. "I think it's my turn."

"You have said quite enough for one day, Cato." She said in a steady voice. They were circling each other.

"I know that I said things I shouldn't have."

"You did. But they were necessary, because now we can get on with the games and not be distracted." She sounded too calculated, like she had rehearsed every word.

"I know that I hurt you, and I know you will never admit that to me. I also know that isn't what you want to say to me. So just say whatever words you have for me, I deserve them." He said, holding his hands up in surrender.

For a second she looked unsure, and then she pulled out another knife. He guessed she had taken more than one knife from the dinner table. "YOU FREAKING SELFISH, TEMPER-TANTRUM-THROWING, ASSHOLE OF A RAT BASTARD!" She screamed, throwing the knife at him with reckless abandon, and he dodged it, moving out of the way at the last second. She paused, breathing hard, calming herself before speaking again. "I should slit your throat right now." She said, pulling out another knife. _Did she take all the freaking silverware in the Capitol?_ Cato thought to himself.

"Okay..." He said hesitantly, "I deserved that." He stood up. "And I really want to explain myself."

"Don't bother." Clove said, turning away from him.

"Clove, would you just listen to me for once in your life!" He said, finally bridging the gap between them. She turned around right as he reached her, holding the knife at the ready to plunge right into him, causing him to freeze. She didn't though. They stayed that way for a few seconds, and then he said, "Can I just tell you what I have to say? If you don't like what you hear, I'll leave okay?"

She brought the knife down to her side. "Well?" Clove asked, raising her eyebrows at him. "I'm waiting."

"Right. Well I didn't mean all that I said to you Clove. Brutus saw you come to me last night... he said... well he said a lot of things that got to me. He got in my head. You know that's my weak spot." He saw a flicker of amusement, but not enough for him to be forgiven yet. "Then I realized, I don't give a damn what Brutus or anyone else says. We may be crazy, violent, and insane, but we are all of those things together. And we may have no idea what the hell we are doing, but I don't care, okay? We'll figure it all out Clove. Please?"

She looked at him without emotion for a few seconds. But then, just when he thought she was gonna just stab him and cut her loses, she dropped the knife, went up on her tip toes, putting her hands on the sides of his neck. Because of how short she was, she couldn't reach his lips on her own; she could pull him down to her, but for once, Clove didn't want to use force. She wanted him to kiss her because he wanted to kiss her. So she waited there for him to close the gap between them. "Thank you." He said softly, in a very un-Cato-like way, and then crashed his lips down on her. It was different from the times before; Cato could tell she was still a little angry at him, but she was holding that back. Instead, it was gentle, and amazing. Something they had never done before. True when they got caught up in the anger and passion it was great, but this was different.

She pulled away suddenly, letting her own hands wrap around his neck. "But if you ever, and I mean EVER talk to me like that again, I will cut you up into little tiny pieces on the spot, understood?" Sweet moment over.

He deadpanned her for a second, and then said, "You are such a drama queen." He couldn't help smirking as he repeated her earlier words.

She rolled her eyes, her own smirk on her face. "I'll take that as a yes." She said, going along with his ridiculous repetition of their earlier arguments, before pulling him down to kiss her again.

By the next morning, all of the tributes had finally arrived in the Capitol. This mean it the opening ceremonies would begin tonight, and it was time for them to begin preparing for the Tributes Parade.

Clove found herself being shuffled off and separated from Cato, and this made them both uneasy for some reason (even though they knew there was only a thin wall in-between them). Without Cato and her knives, Clove was once more on edge (Enobaria wouldn't let her bring the butter knives she had collected from the dinner table to an area with other tributes, for their safety apparently). Clove now knew for sure she would not be able to break off her alliance with Cato when need be in the arena, considering she couldn't even be apart from him without feeling uneasy for a few hours.

Her prep team consisted of very typical Capitol people; they were all very wild-looking. They had neon hair colors, pastel skin tones, jewels implanted on their bodies, and eyelashes that she was certain were longer than her actual fingers. Clove was very thankful she had not been born in the Capitol in this moment.

After her prep team had cleaned her (with multiple baths that Clove did not feel was very necessary), waxed her, buffed her nails, blow-dried her hair, and used a salve to get rid of her bruises (that she'd gotten from Cato), she was ready to be seen by her stylist.

For most people, being naked in front of people was awkward. Clove never really minded it. After waiting for what felt like forever, her stylist came in. "Let me look at you." He said, motioning for her to spin around so he could survey her entire body. So she did. His name was Cicero, and Clove immediately decided she didn't like him. His hair was orange, his skin was yellow, and he had cat eyes.

But, Clove knew she needed his help. He was there to make her beautiful and present her to the Capitol, to possible sponsors. She suddenly remembered Cato's words from the other day, '_There's nothing wrong with pretending you like them, even if you don't. That way you can use the people and things around you to help you win the games.'_ In this moment, she just wanted to growl back, '_easier said than done.'_ But then she heard Cato's voice ring in her head again, '_You want to win, don't you?_' That thought resonated with her. She did want to win, and so she decided she would try to be nice.

"So, Cicero, what is our plan?" She said as she sat back down on the table. She was trying to keep her tone as pleasant as possible, trying to keep her words from twisting or being rude like they so often became. She just tried to make herself earnestly excited to hear what he had to say, even though she really wasn't.

He looked taken aback for a few moments, and then simply said, "Interesting."

Clove clutched the edges of the table she sat on tightly. She was frustrated that her attempt to be nice to this man was not going as she had hoped. She was trying so hard not to be bitchy, but it was driving her crazy. "May I ask you what is interesting?" Clove said as politely as possible, just trying to keep her voice even.

"You seem different then they described you. I've heard you... well, that you did not get along with people well in general."

Clove clutched the table harder. She grit her teeth, taking a breath, then looking at Cicero. "Look, I'm gonna level with you; being this civil to someone is killing me. I am not a people person, I do not like people in general, that much is true. But so is this; I _want_ to win. And I will do anything within my power to make sure that I do."

Cicero took Clove's chin in his hand, holding it up, inspecting her face. "Now _that _is something I can work with." He said, not talking about her looks, but about her spirit. It seemed her little mini-speech had caused him to actually take her seriously. Clove was surprised to realize that she herself had gained some respect for him as well. "Our plan," he said, answering her earlier question, "is to dress you up in a costume of tarnished gold with silver accents to make you look like the Gods and Goddesses that some of the ancient civilizations used to worship before their destruction. Our goal is to place you on a pedestal above the other tributes and make sure they and everyone else knows you are better than the others in every way." Clove decided she didn't mind Cicero so much after all.

When Cicero was finished with her, she was wearing a gold band circle headpiece with eagle wings on it; it looked like a crown. She had on a gold armor-like costume with a gold skirt and grecian sandals. Her whole body was covered with a shimmery powder that made her look like she wasn't even human. Her face had no dark make-up, just simple gold eye-liner. Her face generally looked pretty fresh-faced. She looked at herself and realized that she looked like a fierce warrior angel. Yes, she definitely didn't mind Cicero.

When she was finally escorted down to the chariots, she saw that Cato was in a costume that basically matched her own. As soon as they saw each other, they stuck to one another like glue.

Cato looked her up and down. "You look nice. I'm glad he didn't put you in something ridiculous... did play nice with your stylist?" He teased.

"Believe it or not, I did." Clove said, nose in the air. "I would go as far to say I don't even mind him."

"Whoa! Look at you getting along with actual people." He said, smirking deeply. "Who are you, and what have you done to Clove Carson?"

She gave him a light punch on his arm. "Oh shut up you."

He changed gears quickly. "There's the District 1 tributes." he nodded in the direction of a blonder girl and a brunette boy in luxurious costumes of feathers, jewels, silk, satin, and anything else you could possibly imagine. "Let's get started working on that alliance." He started moving toward the District 1 tributes.

"But Cato, I was already nice to one person today!" She said, pulling him back by his arm, exasperated at how he expected her to once again be civil with new people.

"And did it really hurt that much?" He said, looking down at her expectantly.

"A little bit, yea!" She said honestly.

He rolled her eyes at her. "Clove, I know you hate people, but I can't do this alone, okay? I need you. I'll even do all the talking if it makes you feel better."

She sighed. "Fine." She said, following Cato over to the District 1 tributes.

"Hi, we're the District 2 Tributes. I'm Cato, and this is Clove." He said, extending a hand to the District 1 boy in a show of good faith.

Both the boy and girl seemed pretty receptive. The boy was a pretty handsome brunette with a deceivingly lean body. He was tall and did in fact look strong. "I'm Marvel." The guy said, shaking Cato's hand, and then held his out for Clove to shake. She knew Cato would yell at her later if she brushed Marvel off, so she tried her hardest to don her fake smile, and she shook his hand. He seemed nice enough. That wouldn't stop her from killing him when it came time in the arena, but maybe an alliance with these two wouldn't be too bad.

The girl had blonde waves falling down her back, and a slender and curvy body, green eyes, and she was definitely pretty. She saw Cato looking at her, and she would be lying if she said it didn't bother her. He realized she saw him and stopped looking her up and down. "I'm Glimmer!" The girl said in a peppy, high voice holding out her hand to Cato, who quickly took it. Their handshake lasted a little too long and her eyes lingered on his body for too long in Clove's opinion. Yup, this alliance was going to make Clove homicidal for sure. For the second time in one day, Clove felt that she immediately did not like this person. In fact, she was pretty sure she more than just didn't like her.

Glimmer looked to Clove, looking at her as though she was jut a second thought, and as if she thought Clove was nowhere as dangerous as Clove actually was. Mistake. Glimmer then held out her hand to shake with Clove, clearly thinking they might get along. Big mistake. Cato watched her closely, clearly not sure if Clove was going to go homicidal maniac on Glimmer. "Hi Glimmer!" Clove said in her sickly sweet voice, taking Glimmer's hand in her own. "It's so nice to meet you!" She said, not able to resist squeezing Glimmer's hand hard as she could.

"Ouch!" Glimmer cried, pulling her hand back, holding it tenderly. "Not so hard! That's my waving hand!"

Clove wanted to roll her eyes so bad and just be like _Are you for real?_ But she didn't. She held her tongue; mostly because Cato was looking at her like he was gonna kill her later. So she put the fake smile on and said, "Oh I'm so sorry! My bad."

"It's fine." Glimmer said, still pouting, and then turned her attention to Cato. "So Cato," she said, seeming all bubbly and happy again. "can I do anything for you?" She said, basically sticking her chest out, placing a hand on his shoulder, oozing charm. _Good lord that girl bounces back fast_, Clove thought. She saw Marvel roll his eyes at his District partner's antics. Clearly he knew how she got.

"What Glimmer means, is what brings you our way?" Marvel said with a friendly smile, clearly thinking along the same as Cato. "An alliance?"

Cato snapped his gaze off of Glimmer and then nodded to Marvel. "Exactly. You in?"

Marvel nodded. "Sounds great to me."

"Yay! Goody!" Glimmer said, actually jumping up and down and clapping.

Clove looked at Marvel, saying under her breath, "Is she always like this?"

Marvel grinned, being the only one who heard her. "It grows on you."

"I doubt it." She said, turning back to Cato.

"Right so we will talk to the District 4 tributes later since it seems they want us all to start getting ready." Marvel nodded in agreement with Cato.

"Bye Cato!" Glimmer said, waggling her fingers at him as they walked away. He smirked, clearly loving the attention.

Once they were back to their chariot and out of the District 1 tributes line of sight, Cato grabbed Clove by the upper arm. "What was that all about, huh?" He said in a low growl. "That move was deliberate!"

"I don't know what you are talking about. I was deliberately trying to be cordial."

"Don't play dumb with me Clove; we both knew you did it on purpose." He said giving her a little shake. "Seriously, Clove. It's no joke. We need them to _like_ us, remember?"

"Sorry, Cato." She said ripping her arm out of Cato's grasp. "I don't like Glimmer."

"Big surprise there, you don't like anyone." He said.

"That's not fair, I've been trying really hard!" She countered.

"You could've fooled me!" He shot back.

"Well, maybe if you pulled your head out of your ass for five seconds, you might've noticed!"

"I noticed you almost broke her hand!" He pointed out.

Clove shrugged. "I didn't though; doesn't that count for anything?" He looked exasperated, and didn't respond. Right as the District 1 chariot pulled out, she finally said, "We're are here to kill them all, Cato; including Glimmer when the time is right." He said nothing as their chariot began moving. Because he was thinking how right she was; and how in the end, one of them would also have to kill the other. Glimmer and Marvel would be as easy to kill as anyone else when it came down to it, but not her. Not Clove.

Later that night, when they returned to their suite, after being outshone and upstaged by District 12 (the most ridiculed district of all!) they were livid. They were on fire. The crowd love it; they ate it up, and both Cato and Clove were furious. The first thing Clove did when she entered the suite was to go grab another knife off of the kitchen table. Once in the living room, she was pacing like a zoo animal that had lost it's mind from being in a cage for too long.

"Now, now, I know this is something you two are very unhappy about-" Wanda started, trying to keep from a total major meltdown. Not helping.

"Miss Renior, I think it would be in your best interest not to get them started-" Brutus started but before he could finish, Cato exploded.

"Unhappy? UNHAPPY!" Cato bellowed, grabbing a chair, throwing it against the wall. It splintered and broke into pieces.

"Here we go." Enobaria said, rolling her eyes.

"OH NO I'M NOT UNHAPPY WANDA!" Cato said with the crazy look in his eyes and the sadistic smile on his face as he smashed a lamp on the ground. "I'M FUCKING ECSTATIC, ACTUALLY!" He shouted, and in one swift motion, he overturned the coffee table so hard that it actually broke.

A piece of the table skidded a few inches and ended up in front of Clove. She stopped her silent pacing, looking over at Cato. "And are you quite finished?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Oh don't even get me started on you right now!" Cato said, pointing at her, the crazy-amused look still on his face. "I guarantee you would rather i focus on those _idiots_ from District 12 then on you!"

"And what is that supposed to mean, Cato?" She said in a way that suggested he shouldn't answer her question. but Cato was never good at picking up on Clove's subtle clues.

"It means how are you so calm right now? Do you wanna win at all Clove? Or do you wanna die?" He shouted at her. "Is that why you almost ruined our chances of an alliance with District 1 by almost breaking the girl's hand?"

"What?" Enobaria said, eyes narrowed. "Is that true?"

"It was an accident!" Clove sputtered, caught off-guard. "Besides, she's a total dipwhore, Cato!"

Cato shook his head at her. "Don't you get it, Clove? We need an alliance with them. We need to crush 12! Because if we don't, and things go this way for the rest of the games, we won't have ANY sponsors and we WILL die! Is that what you want? Huh? Is it?"

Suddenly, Clove let out a little scream. Before Cato could finish goading her, before he could even register the knife leaving her hand, it whizzed right by his head and lodged in the wall.

"Good heavens!" Wanda exclaimed.

"Clove. You are wearing thin on knife privileges." Enobaria warned.

"Oh would you just _shut up_ for once Cato?" Clove finally screamed, ignoring all of them and focusing on Cato; her fury was finally showing on her face. "Yes, we get it, this is not good. But what have I told you about being weak, about having temper tantrums? Because last time I checked, 18 year olds do do these things! Act your age, act your district, and calm down! Keeping calm and coming up with a plan is the only way one of us is gonna make it through alive!"

Cato went over and grabbed the knife dislodging it from the wall. Then he turned around and looked at her. "See you keep saying these things; but I've seen you throw plenty of fits of rage before." He said, still looking insane as shit, walking towards her. "Plenty of knives too." She actually found herself back up a step, and caught herself, mentally cursing. She would not fold to him. "Face it Clove; no matter how much you scoff at me, you and I both know you are just as angry and twisted and fucked up as I am." He said. "You act like you are better at containing your outbursts and insanity than I am, but you can barely talk to people without maiming them or threatening them in some way. At least I can talk to people!" He was right in front of her now. H took another step towards her, and she found she didn't want him to touch her. Not here, not now, not in front of people. She didn't want to freak out. She couldn't lose her cool. There team could only stand to have one explosive temper at a time, and right now his was in full swing. So she kept backing up.

"Cato, it's not my fault that people are a blathering idiots, okay? What have I told you about-"

"I think we had this conversation earlier- we both already know you tell me a lot of things; things you don't necessarily do yourself." He said; he was really off the deep end this time. Clove was nervous again. She searched his eyes and couldn't find any reason in it. She was in trouble this time.

"Cato. Pull it together. This is not the time for this." Suddenly she felt her back hit the wall. Shit. She was really in trouble now.

"It's never the time Clove, is it? But you know what?" Cato said, cocking his head to the side. He was now only inches from her face. "I think this is just the time." He stabbed the knife in the wall right beside her head, causing Wanda to jump.

"Would you two please stop stabbing the walls! They didn't do anything to you!" Wanda said, her voice more shrill than usual.

"Cato, I think it's enough." Enobaria warned, standing up off of the couch. "Clove, do you-"

"I'm fine." She said; she would die of embarrassment if her mentor was going to have to come to her rescue. "I can handle him." She said, and was sure she could. "You know I'm not afraid of you Cato. So why even bother with this right now?"

"Because I want to hear you admit that I'm right. Right here, right now." He said, taking grip of her upper arms. " I want to hear you admit that you are as blindly and murderously angry as I am right now. I know you are! I also know you will refuse to admit it in public, but I don't care. This is hardly public anyway. So admit it."

"Cato, I am blindly and murderously angry. But I know how to control myself. You clearly don't. Now stop this; if you have to keep screaming and break things, you will do it in the privacy of your room." She gripped his collar. "If you don't want me to dice you up into little pieces right here and right now for trying to bring me to your level of foolishness, then you and I will go back to either my room or yours right now and you are going to get out your little fit and then calm the fuck down you childish drama queen. Okay? I'll even let you throw you're little temper tantrum tonight; in my room. But tomorrow, we are going to be level-headed, and calm and we are going to figure this thing out." She said. "Are you with me?"

After a long period of silence, Cato pulled the knife from the wall and handed it to her. "I'm with you." He said, and then held a hand out, gesturing for her to lead the way to his room. "After you." He said. Clove couldn't tell if his rage had subsided or if he was just containing it momentarily. But she didn't care. She hated causing a spectacle in front of others, and she was just relieved it was all over.

"Oh and stop smirking, you're still in trouble." She said as pushed by him, grabbing the front of his shirt as he rolled his eyes at her, pulling him after her.

As she went, Clove could swear she heard Enobaria said. "I don't know how she does it." Sometimes Clove didn't know how she herself did it. She just thanked the lord that she seemed to have enough power over Cato to keep him from destroying everything in his path.

As soon as Clove got him into her room, she tripped him and he lost his balance. He fell backwards and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her down with him. "What the hell, Clove?" He shouted angrily at her.

She straddled him, one hand on his neck, the other holding a knife to his neck. "Before we go any further, I just need to clear up one thing; Glimmer is a fucking ditzy, whore of a bimbo. And if I ever catch you with her I will kill you. If you look at her too long, I will make you regret it Cato."

"Like I give a shit about her; she's boring." He said. "But I still accept your challenge."

"Cato, that wasn't a challenge; it was an advisory label to explain to you that having anything to do with her will be hazardous to your health-"

"Yea, yea, you'll cut me I know. Hit me with your best shot." He said smirking.

"Cato I'm warning you, t's not a challenge!" He flipped her over, pinning her down.

"Shut up and kiss me you crazy girl." He said.

"Cato this is not a joke. Cato-" She shouted one more time before her cut her off, kissing her hard. She eventually stopped fighting him and kissed back; she never resist him for long.


	5. Chapter 5

Clove awoke to Cato shaking her awake, she almost stabbed him because he startled her. "Clove! Would you stop trying to stab me?" He said. She realized that she had almost plunged a knife into his shoulder, and he had grabbed her wrist at the last second. "Seriously, I'm just trying to wake you up."

"You know it will help me in the arena." He gave her a look, and she let out a sigh, knowing he was kinda right. "It's a hard habit to break; beside you should know better by now." She realized now that Cato was already standing, in training gear with the number 2 on his arm."Why are you waking me up anyway?" She asked, sitting up.

"First day of training." He said with a smirk. "I want us to eat before we go down, so hurry up and get changed." Cato seemed to have taken all of his anger at their situation and refocused it into the games; he seemed really pumped. She was guessing the tributes parade and being shown up by 12 had really gotten to him.

Clove stood up and took the training shirt that he handed her, pulling it on over her head. Then she paused for a second, looking at him. "Since when do you care about whether I eat or not?"

"Since you're my district partner and I can't have you getting malnourished before we get into the arena." He said, handing over her training pants.

Clove still just looked at him weird. Finally, she said, "Careful Cato, or other people might start to think you actually care about me."

"Well we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Cato said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He put a hand on her waist, pulling her towards him, giving her a quick peck on the lips which was EXTREMELY un-Cato-like. "Finish getting dressed and I'll meet you at breakfast."

Clove stood there dumbfounded and completely speechless. She watched him walk by her, cocking her head to the side. Cato was acting weird. Really weird. She had no idea what was going on, but she felt like he was up to something. She narrowed her eyes as he flashed a huge smile at her before he closed her door behind him. He was definitely up to something, she knew it. He was also crazier than she thought if he didn't think she was going to find out.

In the training center, with all the weapons and stations all around her, Clove found herself forgetting Cato's weirdness and getting extremely excited to work with actual knives. While Atala talked, Clove notice Cato watching the District 12 girl. He was staring her down was trying really hard to ignore him, but she did seem a bit intimidated. She was pretty enough, but she looked a little malnourished. Clove decided her moment in the sun was over; the only reason District 12 had made a splash was because of their stylists. They had gotten lucky this year, but that as probably as far as their luck would carry them.

When Atala finally dismissed them, Cato and Clove (along with Glimmer and Marvel) headed towards the weapons stations. Clove made a bee-line for the knives, but Cato grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her back to him. Both Glimmer and Marvel stood back a few feet.

"What, Cato?" Clove said irritated; all she wanted to do is play with the beautiful set of knives. They were all shapes and sizes, all glinting in the light, and all of them were calling her name.

"We are gonna go talk to District 4, Clove. Alliance, remember?" Cato said. Clove thought, _ugh, this is what he was up to_, as she let out a groan.

"Cato, I've done everything you've asked. I gave Cicero a chance and I didn't actually injure anyone too badly yet." She said. "If you want it to stay that way, you will let me go throw knives and deal with this on on your own; it's not like they would ever dream of saying no to you anyway."

Finally, Cato nodded. "Fine. Go play with your toys, Clove. I will handle it." Clove let her giant smirk overtake her face. He just rolled his eyes at her. "Yea, yea, yea. You got your way. Now don't miss. Give the rest of them something to be scared of."

Clove gave him a grin. "Cato, you know I never miss."

He nodded, knowing that was true; he also knew that it meant all the times she had "missed" him before, she had missed on purpose. Cato then walked over to Glimmer and Marvel. Clove turned away, she knew Glimmer was gonna follow Cato and make the most of the first time Cato and Clove had really truly separated in front of her. Clove just hoped Glimmer didn't get her claws too deep in to Cato.

She headed to the knives, nodding to the knives assistant. "So, knives?" Clove almost jumped when she heard the voice behind her. She turned to see Marvel behind her.

"Yea. They're my specialty." Clove said gathering a bunch in her hand. The assistant heard this, and pressed a button. All the targets started moving.

She looked at the assistant, and he said, "I have heard about you from Enobaria; I figured you would want a real challenge." He said.

Marvel rose his eyebrows at her. "Well let's see what you got."

Clove felt the rush, noticed the patterns of movement of the targets, and in no time had hit every single target directly in the heart or head right on the bullseye.

Marvel gave her a slow clap as she looked back at him smugly. "Very nice. Seriously, I'm very impressed." Clove looked around and noticed most other tributes looked scared of her; that was just the way she liked it.

"Where to next?" Clove asked, as they turned. "What's your weapon."

"A spear." He said. "Shall we?" He said, holding out an arm goofily for her. She laughed, brushing by it, but not in a rude way; Clove liked this kid. That was definitely something new. She was glad Cato insisted she try and be nice; Marvel was actually seeming to be a decent guy. He didn't bug her all that much, which was weird. He did a little, but everyone bugged her a little at least, even Cato.

As they made there way down the stairs towards the spear station, Clove looked over to Cato and Glimmer and the District 4 tributes. Glimmer looked back at Clove with uncertainty; after Clove's knife display, she seemed a bit afraid of her. Cato beamed at her, and shook hands with the District 4 boy and then the girl.

"Looks like things are going well." Clove noted.

Marvel nodded. "Yea, it does... I guess it's good Cato didn't make you talk to them?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, I saw you trying to crush every bone in Glimmer's hand yesterday. I'm pretty sure she's the only one that didn't realize it." Marvel said with a grin.

"Oh, that." Clove said, avoiding his eyes. "Yea, I don't play well with others." She said, and then added darkly, "Although that doesn't stop Cato from making me try to."

Marvel rose his eyebrows. "I thought you liked Cato? You guys seem so weirdly in-sync."

"Of course I like Cato, he's my district partner." Marvel gave her a look, and Clove knew he wanted a further explanation, but she avoided responding. "Aren't you supposed to be throwing a spear or something?"

Marvel grinned and then grabbed a spear. Marvel was definitely skilled with a spear. He hit the moving target right in the heart bullseye every time he launched the spear. Clove nodded. "You're good."

"Good? Oh come on, I'm so much better than just _good_."

Just then, Cato and Glimmer joined them; Cato looked really happy. "Good job, _Clover_!" He said, throwing his arm around her shoulders. "You're knife throwing sealed the deal with District 4."

"I told you, I _never_ miss." Clove said with a smirk.

"I know." Cato smiled back.

"I mean we totally did a lot too, though. Especially you, Cato." Glimmer said, fawning over Cato. It drove Clove crazy how much Cato was enjoying it. Clove knew she should just be enjoying Cato singing her praises, it never usually happened. However, Glimmer tainted her happiness.

"Well I'm glad it's all figured out." Clove said, ignoring Glimmer. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to the knife station. Oh, and Marvel can throw a spear better than anyone I've ever seen, Cato." She pushed past them all, and went back to knife throwing.

While Glimmer was off being mediocre at best with a bow and arrow, Cato went to go train at the station with the sword. Clove took a break from the knives and watched him again, sometimes she couldn't help it; he was her district partner after all. He sliced and diced up the dummies like it was nothing, impaling the last of the lot. Other tributes feared Cato for sure. When he moved onto the spear station, he threw the spear and skewered the training dummy from yards away. Cato was good at so many different weapons, Clove almost felt it wasn't fair. She even noticed District 12 girl watching him from the camouflage station; she didn't even notice her district partner talking to her. Cato had a way of demanding attention. While Clove was good with weapons too, she severely lacked in areas suck as hand to hand combat (not for lack of trying, but because of her small stature).

At lunch, Clove sat at a table in the middle of the room with Cato, Glimmer, Marvel, and the District 4 tributes. Clove didn't catch the boy's name (he seemed pretty disposable), and she was pretty sure the girl's name was Ashley or Ashlyn or Brittany, or something like that. They weren't too bad, but they would be easier to kill than Glimmer and Marvel, for sure.

Cato was being his charming self, taking on the role as leader of the alliance. And Glimmer, of course, was all over Cato during lunch. Clove had lost her appetite; Glimmer was making her nauseous. There was a point where Glimmer had laughed her high pitched laugh, and Clove was about to lose it.

"I think it's illegal to stab Glimmer before the games, you know." Marvel said to Clove under his breath when Cato had gotten up to get more food (and of course Glimmer had followed). Clove realized that she had been looking from her knife to Glimmer and back again. Clove let go of the knife, not wanting to launch it at Glimmer.

"Right well, I can explain that... Glimmer's laugh is really annoying." Clove said lamely, looking down.

Marvel chuckled, patting Clove on the back. "So I take it she's not necessarily growing on you?"

"That would be a no." Clove said, feeling a small genuine small form on her face. Who was this kid? No one ever made Clove smile. Clove looked up and caught Cato staring at her from across the room by the food station. It startled her so much, she missed the beginning of what Marvel had said.

"...she's really not that bad." Was the first thing Clove heard when she tuned back in to what Marvel was saying. "But I guess if I was in your shoes and she was flirting with my... _district partner, _I wouldn't like her either." Marvel gave Clove a little knowing smile, and Clove could tell by the way that he said district partner that he might've guess Cato and Clove had something going on. Could what Marvel was saying be true. Could that be why she didn't like Glimmer? Was she making her jealous? Was it really Glimmer's need attach herself to Cato that made Clove wanna stab her, or was it just that Glimmer was really stupid and annoying?

She was saved from having to come up with a response by Cato and Glimmer coming back to the table. Clove noticed that although Cato was acting all happy and charming like he had been all day, that he was all the sudden forcing it. Clove however chose not to bring it up; she'd ask him later, when they were alone.

After lunch, Clove noticed Cato's mood had soured significantly. She heard Cato's voice yelling from across the Training Center about how some kid took his knife. Clove rolled her eyes as she watched him as he repeatedly threatened and tried (but was being held back by station assistants) to kick the boy from District 3's ass. Clove knew Cato was picking fights just to fight now; maybe a little bit for intimidation but mostly because he wanted to fight. She knew, because Cato didn't give a shit about knives. He loved his swords, but Clove was the possessive one when it came to knives. Although it was ridiculous of him, it definitely did intimidated the other tributes, so she figured it wasn't a complete waste.

She went up in the elevator with her fellow Careers and Cato, thankful that the District 4 tributes were on the elevator too. That way, she didn't need to be with Cato alone until they got into the suite, and even then, Wanda and their mentors would most likely be in the living room. She really didn't want Cato to slam her against the wall again, because she knew he was mad, and he'd been doing it a lot lately; and honestly, it was starting to hurt her back.

Once they were off the elevator, Cato stormed towards the hallway where their bedrooms were. When he as in the doorway to the hall, he stopped, and said over his shoulder, "Are you coming?"

Clove was really getting confused by how bipolar Cato was being, but she couldn't help nodding numbly, having to almost run to catch up to him. He stood outside his door, holding it open for her, holding an arm out to beckon her inside. She, of course, went.

She turned around and looked at him as soon as he closed the door. "Okay, what's your deal _now_, Cato?" She said, knowing he was pissed about some bullshit.

Cato wasn't looking at her as he pulled off his training shirt. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please. You didn't start that fight earlier because District 3 _took your knife_." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. "We both know that. You started it because you were pissed about something and needed an outlet."

Cato ignored her. "I'm going to take a shower." He said, undressing completely. "You're welcome to join me." She just stared at him, so confused. Normally she would go with him if he invited her, but she didn't know what to say; he was so happy-go-lucky in the morning, and now he was a completely different person. He took her silence for a no and shrugged, "I'll be out in a few minutes, then." He went into his bathroom, closing the door partially behind him.

As soon as Clove heard the water go on, she let herself sink to down to the bed, laying back. She tried to breathe but she felt like she couldn't get enough air. Why was she even here? Cato wasn't her boyfriend. He was her first time, and the only guy she could tolerate. Plus, he had been her partner for as long as she could remember. He let her be her psycho self and if he commented, he was just doing it to tease her. He accepted her insanity as she accepted his.

Suddenly, she realized that Cato wasn't the only guy she could tolerate anymore. No, she had begun to tolerate Marvel. _Could that be what was wrong?_ Clove wondered. Did it bother Cato that Clove was getting along with someone who wasn't him? It was possible... Clove had never gotten along with anyone who _wasn't_ Cato. So he was jealous... Cato was a jealous person after all. Although it was usually jealousy over people having more power than him, not over a girl. But at this point, Clove decided anything was possible.

She got up and stripped down, pulling her hair out of her low ponytail. She then slipped in to the bathroom. Cato was already in the shower, and Clove strode over to it and opened the door to the shower. He was alarmed for a fraction of a second, but realized it was only her. "Ah so you decided to join me."

"I don't care about Marvel." She said, grabbing him by the back of the neck, pulling Cato down to kiss him hard. He was really caught off-guard, but eventually his arms went around her, pulling her close.

Her words must've registered with him, and he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her back enough to look at her. "What do you- how do you even-"

"I know you pretty well too, you know." She said.

"I don't even know what this is." He admitted, talking about the emotion he was having. "But I kinda wanted to run Marvel through with my sword."

"Yea, now you understand why I wanted to stab Glimmer. Jealousy is a bitch, isn't it?" Clove said.

Cato watched the water from the shower run down Clove's body and suddenly, he wasn't so worried about Marvel at all. She smirked at him as he pounced on her, pushing her against the wall of the shower, kissing her hard. She wrapped one of her legs around his waist, pulling him closer, allowing him more access. He slid inside of her with ease, gripping her thigh hard as he did. She broke their kiss, letting out a loud gasp of pleasure. He bit her neck hard and thrust again, and again. Clove threw her head back, not even caring how her head connected painfully with the wall. Pain and pleasure were of the same vein to her anyways. She scratched Cato's back hard enough to make him bleed, knowing he felt the same as she did about pleasure and pain. He moaned into her neck when she did. He dug his nails into her thigh, and she noticed the droplets of blood suddenly appearing where his nails had been. The water was tainted slightly pink from the blood they drew from each other as Cato and Clove rode the waves of pleasure. Before they were done, Cato turned her around so her back was too him, pushing her against the door of the shower, kissing and sucking her neck as he continued thrusting as she moaned. He hands were up against the door in an attempt to find something to hold on to. He gripped both of her hands with his own, and finally she came with a scream, he wasn't far behind her.

After their shower, they laid on Cato's bed; Clove was in a shirt of Cato's (which was more like a dress on her), and Cato was in his boxers. Clove turned over and looked at him. "I'm wondering; what was it about earlier that made you so jealous of Marvel."

He looked at the ceiling, and let out a heavy breath. "I figured you would ask." He looked at her face and said, "He made you smile."

Clove looked at him confused. "That was it?"

"Clove, I don't think you realize how rarely you usually smile." Cato said, and Clove knew he was kind of right. "And I don't think you realize the affect it has on me when you do smile."

"Cato, you make me smile every once in a while too-"

"That's different. I've never seen anyone else make you smile." He said, and then added, "That, and you didn't flip out when he touched you. Normally you are ready to cut someone who puts hands on you."

She realized he was right. "Well I don't mind Marvel."

"You know why that worries me?" He said seriously. "Because that's how stuff started with me."

"Cato, that's different!" She said.

"Why is it different?"

"Because... it just is!" She said, irritated. "Besides, I'm not the one letting _Glimmer_ the sparkling idiot hang on me!"

"Just because she's attractive and I enjoy the attention doesn't mean I automatically want to bang her, Clove." He said, exasperated.

"But you admit she's attractive!" Clove accused.

"Clove, that is not the point." When she seemed unconvinced, he said, "Do you think Marvel is attractive?"

Clove thought for a second. "Yea, you're right, that's not the point at all."

Cato let out a little laugh, and she turned over. "Oh hey, come on now." He said, sliding over and cuddling up next to her, putting an arm around her. She didn't speak, but she took his hand in hers. It was a small victory for him, but it was a victory he would take as he settled down next to her, falling asleep quickly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Dear Readers, **

**Thank you so much for the great few reviews I've gotten, I really do appreciate it! I have been trying to capture them as accurately as possible with their personalities and what they would do, and so I hope you like the chapter, even though it would probably piss me off if I was reading it. It does show you a different side of Clove though, a side that shows she's more human than she thinks she is. But don't worry, it's not too mushy or anything.**

**Also, go check out inluv4eva's Cato/Clove fic, i just read the first chapter and it seems interesting. Shout outs to readers once and future, Jesus the Gardener, and Theatergirl6! Thanks for the reviews!**

**enjoy the chapter!**

**-esl1852**

* * *

It was the third day of training, and Clove felt like time was beginning to fly by; she didn't like it. She felt like the little time she had left with Cato were slipping through her fingers, like sand. She knew she would make it far in the games, and she knew that much for sure. However, there could only be one winner. If she did win, then Cato would be dead. She didn't know how she would keep her sanity after that, even if she didn't kill Cato. He was the only one who really understood who she was, the only person who pushed her, and the only person who didn't bore or irritate her (aside from Marvel, but he would be dead soon too, and so Clove tried not to think about him).

And if Cato won, then Clove knew she herself would be dead, which is something she already had come to terms with in a way. Besides, if anyone deserved to win, it was Cato... if anyone had to kill her, she hoped it was him. She knew that was so twisted and sick, but that was something she was used to. She knew she wasn't quite right in the head; she had known that her entire life. But Cato wasn't quite right. And while Clove knew she was psycho, she thought her reasoning was sound enough to at least make some sort of sense. Cato did have her virginity already, why not her life as well? Besides, she wouldn't be able to die with dignity if it was anyone else; no one else deserved to kill was the third day of training, and Clove felt like time was beginning to fly by; she didn't like it. She felt like the little time she had left with Cato were slipping through her fingers, like sand. She knew she would make it far in the games, and she knew that much for sure. However, there could only be one winner. If she did win, then Cato would be dead. She didn't know how she would keep her sanity after that, even if she didn't kill Cato. He was the only one who really understood who she was, the only person who pushed her, and the only person who didn't bore or irritate her (aside from Marvel, but he would be dead soon too, and so Clove tried not to think about him).

Marvel nudged her, bringing her back to reality. "You alright?" Clove sat at lunch with the other tributes waiting for her private session. Glimmer had just gone into hers, blowing Cato a kiss before she left. Clove swore she did it, among her other obnoxious actions towards Cato, just to piss her off. If that was true, Glimmer was doing a pretty good job at it.

"Yea, I'm fine." She said, looking down at her hands which had been balled into little fists. She unclenched her hands and looked back up at them.

"You sure?" Cato asked from her other side. Other people didn't notice, but Clove saw the concern in his eyes.

"I'm good. Just bored." Clove said, and both guys smirked a little; Clove knew they were both thinking she was bored fifty percent of the time and it was so difficult. Clove couldn't help it; she hated waiting.

Before anyone could say anything else, they called Marvel. Clove wished him luck and he patted Clove on the knee, "Same to you." He looked to Cato, "And to you." Cato nodded back, but didn't say anything back to him as he got up and walked out. Marvel and Cato had bonded a bit, being all macho and thinking they were better than any other male tribute present (they were, in a way; except Thresh, he was really one of their biggest threats). However, Clove and Marvel had bonded a bit as well, whenever Glimmer was busy being all over Cato, and Cato didn't really like it.

"You really shouldn't hold me against him; we're just friends." Clove said under her breath to Cato. Cato looked at her with a blank stare. "Besides, we are only keeping ourselves entertained since Glimmer insists on being your shadow."

Cato didn't say anything for a few moments. Then, "Fine. He is actually a pretty chill dude anyways." Clove rolled her eyes a him, but felt a little better. Cato was so typical.

Then they called her name, and Cato squeezed her hand tightly before she stood up. No one saw their exchange, and that was something Clove treasured; Cato and Clove shared a secret, a bond that no one could destroy or exploit.

Clove stood, walking towards the training room, where the Gamemakers would be. She looked back over her shoulder at Cato when she stood in the doorway. He smiled at her, winking at her. She wanted to smile back, but all she could muster was a smirk. She turned and walked in.

"Clove Carson." She announced when she was in the center of the room. "District 2." The Gamemakers hadn't lost interest yet, and Clove once again thanked the lord she was from one of the first few districts.

She went toward the targets, pressing the button that she had seen the knives assistant press during training. The she grabbed a knife. She stared at the targets, studying the pattern, and launched the first knife. It landed in the bullseye of the hear of one of the targets. Clove knew that all of the Gamemakers were absolutely 100% paying attention now.

She felt the rush she always felt as she launched another knife, and another, and then another. One after the other she hit every bullseye on every single moving target. Clove felt the primal urges she could never fight against; the need to kill, to be the best, to win. These desires drove her. As she "killed" each moving target, she just felt more alive than ever.

When she was finished, she looked eagerly over at the judges. Yes, they were definitely impressed. They thanked and dismissed her, and she turned, walking out of the room with the deepest smirk on her face. One of the Avoxes at the door to the elevator pressed the button for her. She got in, feeling pretty satisfied in the way her private session went.

Enobaria was sitting in the living room when Clove walked in. "How'd it go?" She said expectantly.

"Perfectly." Clove said.

"You didn't miss?"

Clove flashed a forced smile. "I never miss." She said.

Enobaria nodded, seeming pretty satisfied with Clove's answers. "Good."

Clove started to walk out, and then paused for a second. "Will you let me know when Cato gets here?" Clove asked, not sure if she was pushing her luck. Enobaria eyed her in the most unpleasant way, like she knew everything (she figured she had guessed by now, or that Brutus had told her) and she did not approve.

Finally, she just said, "I'll send an Avox to fetch you, although I doubt it will be necessary. He will most likely just come knocking down doors to find you."

Clove ignored Enobaria's jab at Cato, and just said, "Thank you." Before going off to her room to change out of her training clothes.

She stripped, and got into the shower. she figured it was dumb because Cato would be up soon, but she showered fast. She rushed her shower, trying to be ready for Cato. She got out and braided back her hair. Then she went to the closet (which she hadn't really had a chance to check out since she'd been there. She was just gonna go for the shirt of Cato's she had worn to bed the night before, but she changed her mind. She wanted to look nice... for him... which made her feel weird, but she decided to just not question it and go with it before she changed her mind.

She pulled out a red dress that was slinky; she liked how it made her feel. It had black lace over it, and a tailored waistline, with a skirt that had a tule under i and went out. The sleeves were just see-through black lace. It was a v-neck with an open back. The dress was stunning, and it made her feel stunning. She pulled out a black leather jacket and put it on over. Then, as an after-thought, she pulled her hair out of its braid and left it down; Cato loved it when she wore her hair down.

She felt like a lot of time was passing, but she just chalked it up to the fact that she was impatient and hated waiting. She checked the time... and realized that over an hour had passed since she had gotten back up to the suite. _No way_, she thought to herself, _this clock must be broken._

Just when Clove was starting to get nervous, there was a knock on her door. It was an Avox, who wordlessly beckoned her to follow. So, she did. When she got to the living room she noticed there was a commotion by the elevator.

"What's going on? Clove asked, interrupting the commotion that was going on between Wanda and whoever was on the elevator. Where's Cato, Enobaria?" She hoped Cato had done alright, or there would be hell to pay. Wanda and Enobaria turned to look at her. Brutus was sitting on the couch. "Well is someone gonna tell me what's going on or not?"

"Well there is no fraternizing between tributes from different districts outside of training, but this young man insists on talking to you." Wanda said, sounding distressed. Out of the elevator, stepped Marvel.

"Marvel, hi." Clove said, really confused. "He's alright, Wanda. He's a... friend." Clove continued. They all looked at her weird, but she just brushed it off.

"Hey, wow. Clove, you look... wow." Marvel said. Clove had forgotten she had gotten all dressed up for Cato.

"Yea, thanks. So do you wanna tell me what you are breaking laws to come tell me while you think up some real adjectives?" Clove asked with a smirk.

"Ahh, yes, of course." He said, shaking his head, small smirk on his own face.

Clove glared at the rest of them, and Enobaria rolled her eyes, but they all took the hint and cleared out of the living room pretty fast. Then she sat down on the couch. She looked up expectantly at him, patting the couch. He came and sat next to her. "So, what's up Marvel?"

"Well I just... how was your training session?" Marvel asked.

"Um, it went great actually. And how was yours?" Clove asked, kind of unsure.

"It went great. Threw the spear at some targets. They seemed impressed enough." He said, and Clove could tell he was holding something back.

"I think we both know you didn't just come up here to ask me about the training session Marvel." Clove said, giving him a knowing look.

He looked a little off. "Right, well... I know how things are with you and Cato and I-"

"Oh that reminds me," Clove said mostly to herself, thinking out loud, "it's taking forever isn't it? I wonder where Cato is..." At her words, Marvel looked a little uncomfortable. That bothered Clove, but she made her face blank so he couldn't read her. "What is it, Marvel? What is going on?" He hesitated, and she was started to get more than just a little bothered. "Seriously, spit it out."

"Well, you meant what you said earlier, about us being friends, right?" Marvel said suddenly, catching her off-guard.

"Umm, yea. I did. What does that have to do with why you are here?"

"I just figured, since I know Cato and you have a thing even though you pretend you don't and other people don't really seem to get it; and as your friend... I just figured I'd want to know if I were in your shoes-"

"Know what? What about Cato? What are you going on about?" Clove asked, not sure if she was understanding what was going on, and not sure if she wanted to.

Marvel let out a sigh. Finally, he said, "I know where Cato is... I just saw him."

Clove looked at him, not really processing what he was saying. "I don't understand-"

"I think you do, Clove." Marvel said. Clove was trying so hard not to understand, she didn't want to understand... but she did. Marvel knew where Cato was. Marvel was District 1. Marvel shared a floor with Glimmer... "I'm sorry." He said, sounding like he really meant it as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know what else to say."

Clove couldn't breathe. She felt like she did when Cato slammed her against the wall and knocked the wind out of her. Only this time, she didn't enjoy it one bit. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move. She had never felt this way before; normally her first reaction was to throw a knife at someone, but she had forgotten her knife in her room. Also, she just didn't feel it; she mostly felt sick. She was just trying to force herself to not believe it. She was so busy trying to catch her breath, that she didn't even notice the elevator door open. She only realized there was someone else there when Marvel looked over her head and said the one word Clove could not handle hearing at the moment. "Cato-"

"What are you doing here, _friend_?" She heard his voice before she saw him. She couldn't bare to hear his voice.

"Just came to ask Clove about her training session." He said nonchalantly.

Cato eyed his hand on her. "Uh-huh. Yea. Sure."

Marvel took his hand off of her shoulder, standing up. "I'm just gonna go."

"Yea, I think that's a good fucking idea." Cato said, and Marvel cast Clove one more apologetic look before leaving. Clove hated getting that look more than she hated anything else in the entire world.

She saw Cato's feet appear as Cato walked into her line of sight as the elevator door closed. "Clove." But she didn't look up. Her heart was pounding in her ears and all she wanted to do was find a knife. "What was he doing here?"

She stood up wordlessly, brushing past him, going over to the dining table. She grabbed a knife off the table. For the first time since she could remember, she didn't feel calmer. She felt more confused, angrier even. She wanted to stab him repeatedly, she wanted to dice him up into little pieces. She wanted to slice him open and watch as the life drained out of his eyes. She wanted to see him suffer.

"Clove. What's going on?" Cato asked, walking towards her. "Why are you all dressed up?"

Clove couldn't take it anymore. She whipped around to face him, saying, "Well I dressed up to surprise you, actually. I figured it would be nice, you would like it, since I never dress up or wear my hair down."

"You look beautiful, Clove. You really, truly do." He said. "Bu why was Marvel-"

She could no longer hold her sickly sweet smile and let an expression of contempt slide onto her face, and she shouted, "Why was he here? Well, I have a better question Cato, where were you? Where the fuck have you been for the past almost two hours, huh? Because I know damn well your training session didn't last that long." She cocked her head to the side. "I have never asked you for anything Cato. And the one time I asked you not to do something, what do you do? You do it... you do _her."_

"Clove, I can explain, it's really not what you think-"

"Not what I think?" Clove screamed. "MARVEL SAW YOU CATO! HE TOLD ME EVERYTHING!"

"What did _Marvel_ tell you, Clove, huh? What?" He said, getting angry almost, grabbing her by her upper arms.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME AFTER YOU TOUCHED HER!" She screamed, pushing him away from her as hard as she could. He only moved back a step or two because of how much bigger than her he was, but a look of hurt registered on his face. "No, don't you look at me like that after what you just did."

"Clove, I swear to you, she means absolutely nothing to me-" Clove let out a blood-curdling scream of anger, trying to stab him with the knife. He grabbed her by the wrist, squeezing her wrist so hard she had to let go of the knife. "Clove please, let me explain-" Clove ripped her wrist away from him just as Enobaria and Brutus ran into the room, having heard her scream.

"SHUT UP!" Clove shouted. He took a step towards her, and the next thing Clove did shocked everyone. Clove lunger forward, punching him in the face, and she punched him in the face hard.

Enobaria was in the middle in a heartbeat as Cato staggered a few steps. Enobaria was looking at Clove with a mixture of respect and consternation. "Clove, you can't fight with him, it's illegal-"

"I don't fucking care, I'm gonna fucking kill him, right here and right now! Let's go Cato, come on!" She screamed, trying to get around Enobaria. Brutus had his arms around Clove in a second, slinging her over his shoulder. Clove continued to scream, kicking and beating her fists against his back as he dragged her away from Cato and Enobaria.

When they got to her room, Brutus put her down. He looked at her in a way that said he wasn't really surprised. "I'm going to tell you what I told him." Brutus said. "He will be the instrument of your demise if you don't cut it off. The games change people, Miss Carson. You would do best not to forget that." With that, he left the room.

Clove, for the first time ever, let herself feel every emotion. She let it all in, all of the anger, hurt, betrayal... She let herself throw a Cato-sized temper tantrum. She ripped off the leather jacket and dress. She screamed continually while she wreaked havoc on the room. She threw her knives at the walls and knocked over the side table, and when that was done, she punched the wall as hard as she could, only succeeding in hurting her hand. Finally she started crying, sitting down on the bed. It was the only time Clove could remember shedding a tear. She had never cared about anyone before Cato. Ever. So she had never been hurt by anyone ever. But Cato; he was her kryptonite. She cared about him, and caring about him had only served to make her feel weak and small. She grabbed his shirt from the floor and curled up with it on her bed, letting the sobs rack her body. She tried to fall asleep, but she just couldn't. So she just lay there with her thoughts and feelings mocking her for what felt like a lifetime.

After her tears dried up, Clove stared at Cato's shirt and realized something. She hated Glimmer more then ever, but she still cared about Cato. Sure, he was a dick... but she knew that. She had always known that. He had fucked other girls before, but always came back. They all bored him as much as the two guys from the Academy that Clove had fucked when Cato was with other girls. It was sick, but she still wanted him. She knew Glimmer couldn't compare to her not only on the intelligence level, but on her level of psycho. No one could match her but Cato. And as much as she hated Cato right now, she knew Glimmer really had meant nothing, and he had just taken her words as a challenge, even though she thought she had made herself abundantly clear it wasn't a challenge. And as much as she knew Brutus's words had been true, she didn't give a shit.

Just then there was a knock on the door, and she said, "Come in." It was of course, Cato. His face was a little red, but not much else. Clove was disappointed she hadn't done more damage.

"Clove, before you dice me up into little pieces, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight-"

Without saying anything, Clove went over to the wall, grabbing a knife and pulling it out, and in a second she was on him, knife at his neck. "How was she?" Clove growled.

"What?" Cato said, sounding a little surprised.

"How. Was. She?" Clove said, punctuating each word.

Cato smirked. "Really?" He said. "You have to ask?"

"Cato I should literally slit your throat right now, and if I was more normal I probably would. I have resolved not to yet, but if you don't answer my question I can change my mind." Clove said forcefully.

"One word: Boring." He said. "She just laid there and took it. I didn't even get off." He said, making Clove satisfied. "I don't even know why I bothered."

"Because... you wanted to get me angry." Clove said, remembering their fight after the Tributes Parade, about how he wanted to see her get mad. He had been trying to get her to throw a temper tantrum as well. "Is that what this was about?" She hissed at him. In a weird way, she was relieved. This had all been a part of their games. She knew she should be angrier, but she wasn't. It just made her realize it was all for her- even sleeping with Glimmer. He did it to get at her. He couldn't have cared any less if she was any good or not.

He shrugged. "Maybe." He said smirking. "Nice temper tantrum, Clove." He said, surveying the room. "Oh, and you punch harder than any man who has ever hit me." He said, daring to grab her by the waist.

"You ever do that again, and I'll do more than punch you." She said seriously, pressing the blade against his throat just hard enough to draw blood.

"You have nothing to worry about. It was the worst sex I've ever had."

"I figured it would be." She said, and pressed her lips against his, hard. He held her tightly, kissing back hard. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to the bed. When they fell onto the bed, Cato broke away and saw his shirt there. It really seemed to get to him, to break the mood.

"I really am sorry. I don't know why I did it. I'm just an extremely fucked up person." he said, brushing her hair out of her faced.

"We both know you know exactly why you did it." Clove said, her voice accusing. Then she softened, when she saw the guilt on his face. "Well I'm pretty fucked up myself, so who am I to judge?" She said.

"We're fucked up together." He said, and she sighed. That was most definitely the truth. Clove was suddenly really really tired.

"Cato, can we just sleep?"

He nodded. "We can do whatever you want." He said, laying down beside her, wrapping his arms around her. "I am sorry you know. I was just trying to prove a point."

"You proved a lot of things." Clove said, and then turned over, not explaining it to him. He just snuggled up behind her and she fell asleep instantly. He didn't fall asleep so easily. He kept pushing her away to try and make the pain of the fact that one of them would be dying so soon a little less. That's why he went to Glimmer willingly. It had done nothing, it hadn't helped at all. It only served to piss him off at their situation and want her more. He kept fucking it up, and they only had such a short time. If he didn't stop pushing her away, he would regret it, and he knew that. He couldn't risk any more of their time trying to push her away.


	7. Chapter 7

**Dear Readers,**

**Sorry it took so long for me to update, I was finishing up with my finals. But now that's done! Here's a chapter that I think you will all like! And thanks for reviewing! It really means a lot to me and i love the feedback!**

**inluv4eva: Yea I hate her too. Idk she was just always one of my least favorite. And I know, isn't he? That's just how I imagine him.**

**Theatergirl6: I know he's an idiot. But he's so hot :) And thanks!**

**biaSmalfoy: Thanks! I'm glad you like it so much! And it's called that bc I had originally had the idea to make the fanfic go along with the lyrics from "Somebody that I Used to Know" by Goyte, but I changed my mind after I had already titled it and written the first chapter so I just kept the title.**

**once and future: Thanks so much for your feedback! I really appreciate that, it really was hard to write that side of Clove, but I thought it went well so I'm glad you agree. And I know, right? Idk I just really like the idea of a friendship between Clove and Marvel. And of course it doesn't hurt that Cato gets all jealous :)**

**followsrabbit: Thanks so much! That's a huge compliment and I'm so glad you like it. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!**

**So there are all my responses to you reviews :) I hope you enjoy this chapter, even though it is a little on the shorter side.**

**-esl1852**

* * *

It was dinner time when Clove was woken up by a knock on her door. She answered the door, it was Enobaria. "Are you calm?"

"Yes." Clove said, closing the door enough so Enobaria wouldn't see Cato lying in her bed.

"Good, get dressed. They're about to reveal the scores they gave tributes in their private sessions." Enobaria said.

Clove nodded, closing the door. She woke up Cato and he (who was still dressed in his training uniform), waited for her to pull on black pants and a purple v-neck tan top. They then went to the living room.

Enobaria eyed them warily, noting that Clove was no longer hostile. She chose to ignore; once again, Brutus looked as though he was not surprised. Wanda was oblivious, as per usual.

Clove sat, and Cato sat down next to her, putting his arm over the back of the couch. Then Marvel's face came up on the screen, and his score came up- he got a 9. Clove was happy about that, but said nothing. Then came Glimmer's face. Her number came up and 8. Clove studied Cato's face carefully. He didn't look happy, he didn't look mad. He looked indifferent. Although Glimmer had scored higher than Clove expected, she was content.

Then Cato's face came up, and Clove felt him tense beside her. When a 10 flashed below his name, he relaxed. Their mentors and Wanda congratulated him. Clove just grabbed his knee, giving him a little squeeze. She had known he would get a high score.

Then Clove's face came up, and she didn't feel as nervous; she knew she deserved a good score; she just hoped hers was higher than Glimmer's, or she would literally die. Her score flashed under her name; 10. She got a 10. Clove was ecstatic. Cato smiled at her, and she let herself truly smile back, as the mentors and Wanda once again congratulated her.

The District 3 tributes scores were unimportant. The District 4 tributes got 8's; this was good, they were their allies. Most of the other tributes scored 5's and similar numbers. The boy from 11, the large one named Thresh, he got a 9. Clove found him to be formidable, and hoped Cato would take care of him early on. Clove was unsettled by Thresh. The little girl from District 11 got a 7, which made Clove very curious. She was tiny, but Clove herself was living proof that tiny didn't mean one couldn't be a fierce competitor.

Then the District 12 boy comes up, and he manages an 8. Clove isn't really sure how, he only showed skills in a few things; camouflage and hand to hand combat. She guessed it was possible. She hoped that the girl didn't score an 8 or Cato might lose it. He had already clenched his hands into fists, trying to contain his anger. As her face came up, Clove watched the screen, fixed on her plain but pretty face. The face Clove would love to cut up if she got a chance in the arena. Then the score came up, flashing under her name; 11. She got an 11. Then, the screen went blank.

"Now, Cato dear-" Wanda started.

Cato let out a loud animal yell, shooting up, overturning the coffee table for the second time since they arrived in the Capitol. Clove couldn't bring herself to calm Cato at first. She was too busy sitting there numbly in shock, barely hearing Cato rage while the others tried to calm her down. How in the world could that girl get an 11? How could she do better than them? That was twice now she underestimated her. Clove racked her brain, trying to think if she had shown any potential in training. She had done amazing with the edible plants test, and she wasn't half bad with a spear. Marvel was better with a spear though, so that couldn't be it. She had to be holding back, she had a secret weapon that she hadn't shown during the training. But what could it be?

Cato had overturned the dining room table now, the crashing of glass bringing her out of her reverie like always. He threw a knife haphazardly, and Clove, without even turning her head, knew it was coming in her direction. She reached out her hand, grabbing the knife right before it hit her. Wanda gasped.

Clove slowly turned to Cato, who realized what had just happened. "Now are you done?" She asked, throwing the knife over her shoulder without looking, and it lodged in the wall. "I thought we were finished with this." Cato glared at her, and Clove dared to push her luck. "Come on, Cato. Use your words like a big boy." She said to him in that patronizing way of hers, cocking her head to the side.

She could tell that Cato was about to lose it at her words. But he thought twice, especially since he was still technically on thin ice with Clove. "How could she score better than me?" He said angrily, choosing to focus on the District 12 girl than Clove.

Clove stood up angrily. "You aren't the only one here, okay? She scored better than me too. Something she will pay dearly for in the arena. She must have some skill her mentor told her to not reveal in training. We'll figure it out, okay? But if you throw one more knife and you injure someone, you are gonna feel really stupid. Or proud of yourself. Or both."

"She is not better than me. How can she be? She seems so..." Cato tried to find a word to describe her, and Clove understood it was hard to explain why she seemed so easy to forget, despite grabbing the Capitol's attention. "Well I can't think of a word, but you know what I mean." Clove did.

"Regardless, Cato, she scored an 11. That is a fact. But we'll see what her 11 does for her when she's in the arena at our mercy." Clove said, she walked towards him. She looked terrifying, almost possessed with the reckless single-minded focus that made her such a fierce competitor. "I'm going to kill her Cato." Cato gave her a look that made her think she would have to convince him to let her have the Girl on Fire. No matter, she could work on him about that. "Her death will be slow and painful and her mother won't even recognize her body when she comes home. Then the order of things will be restored to normal." Cato finally nodded in agreement with her, calmer than he had been in a while.

The next day was different than the past few had were training with their mentors and Wanda today, the interview was the following day.

She found herself once again being separated from Cato. While he went to talk to Brutus about his strategy for the interview, Clove went off on her own with Enobaria. Clove realized that she herself was becoming weak because of Cato. She couldn't relax when they were separated, and that was just not natural. She wasn't ok with this.

"What I want you to do," Enobaria started, "is to try not to hate Ceasar Flickman. Can you manage that?"

Clove rose an eyebrow a her. "I think I can."

"Good. Now we need to work some sort of angle, something to guarantee you sponsors will like you..." Enobaria looked at Clove hard. "So for you... I'd say we should work your fierce nature. You are a competitor and you are here to win. Just try and be yourself, but be a little more open... You can work some of your wit in there too, as long as you aren't snappy. The goal is to make them like you. We can even soften some of your ferocity with a girly dress and some makeup." Seemed do-able. Sort of. After a couple of hours they had finally hammered out a plan, and Clove was glad to be done with having Enobaria attempt to examine every minute detail of her personality.

When she met back up with Cato, she found he was working a sort of cross between cocky and charming, with a touch of strong a vicious. Typical; but the strategy did play to his strengths.

Suddenly Wanda walked in and Clove groaned inwardly. "Time to work on your interview manners!" She said, and Cato gave Clove a warning look. Clove crossed her arms and pouted, but did not threaten Wanda. Cato thought it was definitely progress.

After countless hours of Wanda correcting their posture, manners, etc., their escort deemed them fit for the public eye and released them.

Clove got up and left the room as quick as possible in order to not maim Wanda after her excessive criticism. She didn't need to turn around to know Cato was following her.

"Clove." He said, and she stopped right outside her door, turning around. He reached out a hand, brushing back her hair. She didn't really react. After the Glimmer fiasco, Clove found she had reverted from how far out of her shell Cato had managed to pull her.

"Clove... I told you I was sorry." She saw the frustration with her lack of response in his eyes. They hadn't had sex the last night; she had barely let him touch her. It wasn't just because of Glimmer, although Cato's little tryst with her had been the catalyst.

"I'm aware." She said, raising an eyebrow at him. Her words fell short, sounding robotic and detached. Cato had emotions, he was wild with them. A lot of times he embraced his unmeasurable rage, but his other emotions existed, and he let them take him over all the time. Clove was different. She was cold-hearted, she knew that. She had an aversion to social situations. Not much made her really feel anything, she'd been that way her whole life. Her parents were just the same. Cold and unfeeling; Clove was pretty sure her parents didn't even feel for each other. Clove was a little different than them in that she did experience blinding anger, but she had always managed to keep it hidden behind her facade of boredom. She only letting the violent anger rage when she was alone. The only other time she felt anything was when she was training. Pain, causing pain, hurting; these were the only things that had ever managed to make Clove alive. But knowing that made her feel even more messed up.

From the time Cato had become her training partner, he made her feel. She hadn't realized it at the time, but if she thought hard about it, that was the time it started. First it was just annoyance, soon after followed by loathing. Eventually she began tolerating him, and found his jokes weren't all awful. When she saw him fight, she started to admire him and his strength. Then, she found herself considering him her only friend; he was the only person she spent any extended time with outside of the Academy. So when he kissed her, she didn't kill him. Eventually, they devised a game out of it, enjoying being teenagers with lust. Rage and lust. They were sick, but they felt something for one another. But still, she didn't feel the way Cato did; she couldn't. She just didn't get it. At all. The things she felt were twisted and came out sideways. She blamed him for all of them.

He gave her a pained look, seeing the old Clove in her eyes. "Clove..." The old Clove and who she had become were very different. He looked into her eyes, searching for something, anything, in her eyes. All he saw was blank. "don't." Was all he said.

"Don't what?" She said, staring at him. Her face was unreadable.

"Don't do this. Not now." He said, with such pain in his voice that Clove actually didn't know what to say. "Don't close up." He reached out a hand to touch her face but she grabbed his wrist. "Please, Clove." He sounded so torn up, she let go and let his hand cup her cheek softly. He put the fingertips of his other hand on her stomach, pushing her gently backwards. She didn't resist, even though she knew she should. She felt her back hit the wall softly. "Just listen-"

"No more talking." She hissed at him. The next thing she knew, she had gripped his face roughly in her hands and had pulled his faced down to hers. He didn't respond at first, but she kept up forcefully with her physical attack.

He groaned, conflicted, knowing that in order to keep her actual feelings away she just wanted to be physical and ignore what he had to say. Despite that, she felt him, though trying to pull away and "talk" more, finally begin to respond to her. She used the grip she had on his shoulders, to pull herself up and wrap her legs around his waist. He was giving in to her, just like he used to, before their pesky feelings got in the way. Back when it was just sex, just simple. His hands ran up and down her sides and settled right at the hem of her shirt. Then, one of his hands darted up her shirt, massaging her breasts. She moaned into his mouth, grinding against him.

Suddenly he went rigid. She tried desperately to hold onto him, but he grabbed her face and pushed it to the side roughly. "Stop it, Clove!" Then he pushed back from her grasp as hard as possible. She, no longer latched onto him, fell to the ground on her ass with a grunt. She narrowed her eyes, glaring up at him.

"Dammit Clove!" He said angrily at her, running a hand through his hair. She had clearly gotten to him. And Cato HATED it when she got the better of him.

"What's the point of pushing me away?" She said, bringing her knees to her chest. "I know you want it too." She said, inclining her head to the bulge in his pants.

"Of course I do, but not if you are just doing it t shut me up!" He said, and she tried to look up at him innocently. She tried, but failed miserably, letting a wicked grin spread on her face.

"I guess you do know me better than I thought you did." She said, cocking her head to the side.

He grabbed her by her upper arms, pulling her up to a standing position, pressing her against the wall. "Clove, it isn't funny. It isn't a joke. Stop trying to shut me up and shut me out." He looked desperately into her eyes. "Don't you get it? We're running out of time. While I am excited to get into the arena, we only have two days left. After that, things will never be the same. This won't be the same. And I want to have as much of this as I can. Whatever happens in the arena will happen, but I want to have this so I have something to hang on to when it gets tough."

Clove closed her eyes, trying to keep her composure. She still found it flooding all back, and not just the lust and rage, but also the want and the comradeship. When it came to him, she didn't know why she even tried anymore. He was the key to the lock on her tightly wound personality. He was also right. She knew once she was in the games she would be her old self. If she let herself close off now... "Okay. But when we are in the Games, I make no promises."

"I wouldn't expect it any other way." Cato smirked. Clove then felt for the door handle behind her, and pulled it open. She grabbed Cato by the front of his shirt and pulled him in with her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Dear Readers,**

**Sorry I haven't been updating as quickly as I would've hoped, but I just got back home and had unpacking and my mother wanted the house back (since my stuff kind of took over the entire house) so I had to deal with all that first. I'm excited though because I'm getting really close to the arena! I'm so glad all of you seem to like my story so much, I really love and appreciate your feedback, so I like to keep up with responding to your feedback!**

**once and future: Thank you so much! I am so happy you enjoy reading it, and I am glad you appreciate how hard it is to write two characters who are immensely complicated like Cato and Clove, and I'm so glad you like the way I'm portraying them.**

**DianaLover18: Thank you so much that does mean a lot to me :)**

**Also, I have a question for all of you. After my Cato/Clove fanfic, I decided I probably will have written so much about both of them and beaten both of their characters into the ground so far that I probably won't be able to bring myself to write more about them (well maybe I will... Idk). The point is that I was thinking about probably writing some other fics about either maybe Haymitch/Maysilee and/or Finnick/Annie. So onto the part where I actually ask a question... would that be something ya'll would be interested in reading? Let me know!**

**Thanks so much! Hope you enjoy this chapter (fair warning to you all, it is a long chapter)!**

**esl1852**

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Clove woke up before Cato once again. Today was the interview, and tomorrow they would prepare and enter the arena. She now realized that she only had one measly day left before their nightmare would become a reality. Their fate would be sealed for sure, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. She guessed they had been on this destructive path since the day they had met; it was funny how things worked out. Clove wondered if they ever really had a chance.

Not wanting to depress herself any further, she tried to put the thoughts out of her mind. Clove sighed as she rolled over, looking at Cato sleep. He looked like an angel. The light hit him in this was that it made him look like he was glowing. His blonde hair looked like a halo; something so ironic that Clove couldn't help but smirk. Without an expression on his face, Cato looked much younger. Without the creases and the anger and the psycho; he looked vulnerable. Clove had a brief flash of standing over him as he lay cold on the ground. Her stomach lurched._ Is this how he would look when he was dead? Would he look like he was sleeping? _Clove thought, and as soon as the thought surfaced, she pushed it away.

The Games were what she had trained for her whole life. She knew she was also, on the other hand, excited. It was time to prove to the world that she was strong. A victor. She shouldn't be thinking about Cato. Before him, Clove had focus and perspective. Now she felt it finally coming back to her. Him distracting her from the Games wasn't acceptable, and she hated him for it. But she knew she couldn't separate from him either. As much as she would love to cut him off, she wasn't capable of it. She needed him, something she hated but knew was true.

Cato stirred, and his eyes opened. She just watched him. He looked back into her eyes. "Hey." He said quietly, sounding full of sadness.

"Hey." She said back lamely.

Their gaze was locked on one another, and he reached out a hand, letting it tangle into her hair. Then, without warning, he pulled her to him and kissed her with a tenderness she didn't know Cato possessed. Not with anger, not with their animal lust... no, this time was different. It was something she couldn't put her finger on, something unfamiliar that she couldn't identify. They had never truly kissed like this before. Their kiss deepened; Clove let Cato snake his other arm around her waist pulling her against him as he rolled her over so that she was on her back and he was above her. Clove kissed him back hungrily. Her hands moved up his body, over the cords of muscles on his arms, shoulders, the back of his neck. She let her own fingers run through his short, soft hair, pulling him closer.

Clove knew things would never be normal for her, she would never have a teenage fling, no courtship, no romance that would withstand the test of time. But she did have Cato. What they had was messed up, damaged, violent and insane. But it was also filled with lust, passion, and a bond she had never experienced with another human being. He understood her. While what they had was finite, with a quickly approaching expiration date... it was still something. They had something. Clove would always have that knowledge.

Suddenly, there was a rapid knocking on the door. It was of course, Wanda, waking them up for another day. They broke apart and just looked at each other for a few moments. Then he pecked her lips one more time before pulling back, much to her chagrin. He rolled over, standing up. "Come on, we should get out there before she gets annoyed." Clove fell back on the bed frustrated. She didn't give a crap if Wanda got annoyed. Wanda annoyed her all the time and no one cared. But she dragged herself out of bed and got dressed anyway.

Once her prep team got a hold of her, Clove tried her best to keep calm and not kill them for the excessive touching and primping. That was their job. They gave her a tiny bit of a cat-eye with liquid eyeliner and then put a little jewel next to each eye. Her hair was in a little bun type-thing on the top of her head and then the rest was weaved into a complex series of little braids down her back.

When they were finally finished, Clove was brought to Cicero. When he showed her the dress she was to wear she tried not to grimace. It was peach, or salmon, or something like that... a color that did not necessarily look good on Clove. It looked freaking fluffy. Clove knew for sure, even if it ended up looking good on her, Cato would despise it.

When she did put it on, she felt like a cupcake. But when she looked in the mirror, she couldn't deny that somehow the dress did something for her, and she did indeed look pretty. It wasn't a Clove-like dress, but she didn't look dreadful like she thought she would. Although, she wasn't a fan of the soft and girly look Cicero had created. But she knew that he had made it for a reason, and he knew what he was doing, so she didn't rip the dress off.

When the entire District 2 crowd all met up at the elevator, Clove noted that Cato looked sexy as shit. _Of course _she looked like some frilly little girl and he looked dangerous in an all black suit with a blue jacket.

When Cato saw her, he rose an eyebrow at her. "Don't you dare comment." She growled at him.

"All I was gonna say is that I can't believe you let them put something pink on you without a fight." He said, unable to hide his smirk.

"It was not without much difficulty on my part, I assure you." She said through gritted teeth, crossing her arms.

"Oh would you relax, you look great." He said, putting a hand on the small of her back as they walked into the elevator.

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one in a frilly pink dress." Then, at the thought of him wearing a frilly pink dress, she snorted a laugh. "Although you in a pink frilly dress would be hilarious." Cato rolled his eyes.

"I know it isn't very you," Cicero said suddenly, "but I would not put you in something without good reason. It will work to your advantage."

Clove nodded, feeling her respect for Cicero grow. "I know that. Which is why I put it on instead of shredding it."

They got off the elevator and were immediately shuffled over towards the stage, and lined up. Glimmer was first, wearing an almost see-through, shimmery, gold gown. Clove rolled her eyes. Of course they went for sexy; that's all she had. Her actual personality was as shallow as a kiddie pool. Marvel was in a light blue suit that wouldn't work on anyone but him. She knew he looked good, and she assumed he did too.

As Cato and Clove got closer to them, Glimmer caught sight of them. Her gaze fixed on Cato and her eyes lit up. Clove fisted her hands into little balls at her sides. She really hated Glimmer. Cato looked at her with worry, hoping Clove wouldn't lose it on Glimmer yet. It was the first time she had seen her since the incident. Marvel looked just as worried.

"Hi Cato." Glimmer said, flashing her pearly whites, sticking her chest out._ Fuck her and her stupid big boobs. And blonde hair. Bitch._ Clove thought to herself.

"Hi Glimmer." Cato said, putting on a charming smile but keeping his distance from her. "Marvel." Cato nodded to him, trying to hold back his own anger. Marvel wasn't that bad of a person and he knew it. Just because Cato was a dumbass didn't mean he should get pissed at Marvel. After all, Marvel wasn't the idiot who had slept with the blonde bimbo.

Marvel nodded back and then turned his attention to Clove. "Hey Clove."

Clove gave a strained almost smile. "Hi Marvel."

While the other tributes lined up, Glimmer kept trying to chat Cato up. He nodded every once and a while, but he wasn't actually listening to her. What he was actually doing was trying not to eavesdrop on Clove and Marvel, but he couldn't help it. Even though Clove reassured him that Marvel and her were just friends (_and_ _really_, he thought to himself, _what right do I have to be jealous? I'm the one who slept with the person Clove seemed to hate more than anyone she'd ever met before_), he couldn't stop himself. He knew she didn't belong to him. Still, he was jealous of how easy their friendship seemed to be; it was just so natural.

"How are things?" Marvel asked her, and Cato knew he meant things with Clove and Cato.

Cato made sure to keep his eyes elsewhere, hoping Clove didn't think he was listening. But he had a feeling she knew he was paying attention. If she did know, she didn't let on at all. "Things are... better." Clove conceded.

"Well I figured that much when I saw him, well, alive. You know, considering you hadn't actually stabbed him." Marvel said.

"Right... well... I tried to." Clove admitted almost sheepishly. Clove? Sheepish? Cato couldn't help but feel confused. How did this kid get these reactions out of Clove so easily?

Marvel laughed. "Well I'm glad you didn't. Cato may be a jerk sometimes, but he's not all bad. What ended up happening?"

"I punched him in the face." Cato turned his head to see Marvel's reaction. He looked surprised and taken aback. "But it's all sorted now." She added quickly.

Marvel looked a bit confused, and then just said, "I don't even..." He shook his head and then smiled at her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Well, you know I don't need to know... it would probably make my head spin if I tried to understand. That's great, Clove."

They started calling for the tributes to get ready to go on the stage, and Marvel turned back around, Glimmer pouting as she moved back to her place in front of Marvel. Clove looked over her shoulder at Cato, catching his eye. "Did you get all you needed?"

"What?" He pretended he didn't get it, but he did. She was commenting on his listening in on her conversation. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

She rose an eyebrow at him with amused look on her face. " For the record, you are very bad at pretending you aren't eavesdropping."

She then turned back to face front. Cato got very close to her, mouth by her ear. "For the record, did you have to tell him you punched me in the face?"

She let out a short laugh but didn't turn back around. Cato stood back up with a grin; Marvel wasn't the only one who could make Clove laugh.

Clove composed herself right before Glimmer, then Marvel walked onto the stage. She followed, trying to glide across the stage with as much grace as she could possibly muster. All the tributes walked onto the stage and took their seats. Clove once again found herself seated in-between Cato and Marvel; it was a position that had a way of making her feel secure. Even in front of the entire country of Panem, Clove barely felt any nerves at all. Then again, Clove was't really a stage-fright kind of person to begin with.

After Caesar Flickerman warmed up the crowd of Capitol people in City Circle with a few jokes, it was time for the interviews to begin. "Let's see if she does indeed shine. Let's have a warm round of applause for Glimmer!" He said, and the crowd applauded as Glimmer strode up to the center of the stage.

Clove didn't need to fake her boredom during Glimmer's interview. "Glimmer, are you prepared?" Caesar asked.

"Yes Caesar, I"m very prepared!" Glimmer said, and Clove wanted to roll her eyes, but chose to restrain herself.

After her buzzer sounded and she strutted back to her seat, Caesar called up Marvel. Marvel went up to the center of the stage. He was funny and charming. There was no way the audience wouldn't fall in love with him. He was so likable, it was hard _not _to.

When his buzzer sounded, Clove realized it was her turn. Caesar held up Marvel's hand, shouting his name for the crowd one more time. Clove stood as Marvel walked back to his seat. He winked at her before sitting, and she tried not to react and kept up her self-assured attitude as she made her way to the center of the stage. "Welcome Clove." Caesar said as they shook hands. "You look lovely."

She put on her most charming smile, pretending she was looking at Marvel or Cato. "Thank you very much. Although it's not my type of dress, my stylist thought it would suit me." Clove noticed Cicero sitting in the front row with the rest of the stylists and saw him beaming proudly at her words.

"And suit you it does." He said as they sat down. Caesar asked her question after meaningless question at first, yes and no questions. After a little over a minute Clove knew she was falling a little flat. Shewas starting to get desperate for questions that would help her showcase her sarcasm and how dangerous she was. She could tell he was trying but they weren't the questions

"So, Clove, you are only 15, am I correct?"

"Yes Caesar." She said, trying to keep from rolling her eyes at his question. Of course she was 15. That was common knowledge.

"And you got a 10? Very impressive." He said. She smirked. She knew it was. "Now Clove, along those same lines, I hear from a little birdie you have a specialty? What is it? I'm sure the folks out here are dying to know how you got a 10." He was met with loud shouts of agreement from the crowd.

Clove waited for them to die down before speaking. "While I can't tell you what went on in my private session, I can tell you my specialty. Knives; or more specifically, knife-throwing."

"Oh how thrilling?" Caesar said. "I take it you're very good from the rumors I've heard?"

"That depends on which rumor you're talking about." Clove said, trying to show her wit. The crowd and Caesar laughed. She waited for a second and continued. "But, yes, Caesar, from what others have told me, I'm more than just good."

"Is that so?" Caesar chuckled.

"Oh yes. Wanna know a secret, Caesar?" Clove said with a mischievous grin.

"Oh yes, how delightful, I love secrets!" He said, leaning in.

She put her hand on the side of her face, as if to hide what she was saying (but it was on the side that faced away from the audience so they could still see her mouth), and pretended to whisper. "When throwing a knife, I never miss. Never."

Then the buzzer sounded, and he made a sound as if he wanted to continue the interview. "Well I would love to continue, but I'm afraid we are out of time." They stood, and he held her hand up. "Let's hear it one more time for Clove Carson, District 2 Tribute!"

Next was Cato, and Clove gave him a reassuring nudge as she sat beside him. He stood, going over to Caesar. Marvel nudged her right before Cato and Caesar sat down, giving her arm a little squeeze of reassurance, which meant he thought she did great. Clove gave him a small smile in return, but left it at that. She didn't want the cameras to catch it for fear of people saying she and Marvel had a thing. She knew Marvel wasn't offended; he probably knew what she was thinking. Clove watched Cato, and she found she couldn't fake disinterest, even though she knew she should go back to looking bored.

First Caesar asked him how things were going, how he was enjoying the Capitol. Cato's answer was generic, but he flashed his most dazzling grin, and with one look at the audience she could tell he was melting all their hearts. Marvel was a funny, likable type, while Cato was more of a badass charmer. A killing machine... who could also charm your pants off if he wanted to. All his words showed that.

Caesar congratulated Cato on his score, and Cato tensed, but thanked him anyways. Clove knew he was thinking about the District 12 girl, Katniss was her name Clove was pretty sure at this point, getting an 11.

Then it was onto his sword, how ready he was to get into the arena. Cato had the sponsors in the palm of his hand. Clove was just glad Caesar hadn't asked about Cato's family. They were one of Cato's few weak points; and if Cato looked soft, the sponsors would lose interest. That was something they couldn't afford. Then Caesar asked him, "So Cato, a charmer like you must be a real ladies man back in your District."

Cato chuckled along with Caesar. "Well I've had my fair share of flings with a lot of girls." Clove fisted her hands in her dress, trying not to grimace. "But not so much anymore. There were tons of girls... but there's this one specific girl who really stands out. And honestly, if I even thought of looking at anyone else, she'd probably kill me." _Damn right._ Clove thought to herself, but she was also shocked to hear Cato say she herself was the only one on national television. It made her feel weird. It wasn't like they were in a relationship, but they _were_ both very possessive and jealous when it came to the other.

"Oh, and who is the lucky lady?"Clove was sure he wouldn't say... or at least she hoped he wouldn't. Then again, if he did say, it would really stick it to Glimmer. Clove dared to let herself look over at Glimmer, who thought Cato was talking about her. _Idiot._

"No comment." Cato said in a tone that suggested he would not be changing his mind, so Caesar gave up on trying to get him to tell.

When Caesar asked for any last words, Cato said, "It's an honor to represent my District. I'm prepared, vicious, I'm ready to go!" Clove couldn't help but roll her eyes at Cato.

When he came back to sit next to her, he slid a hand in hers quickly, giving it a squeeze. Clove, for the first time, thanked Cicero mentally for her obnoxious dress. It was frilly and puffy enough to hide this action from the cameras. She squeezed back. She looked at hmi out of the corner of her eye, and she saw the smirk on his face. She didn't want to chance holding his hand after what he just said any longer, even though her dress hid it. With her luck, the cameras would catch it and expose them and she didn't want that.

Clove found herself bored to tears, waiting for all the others to finish their interviews. She zoned out for most of the other tributes interviews. She did however note that the red-headed District 5 girl named Finch, though she had gotten a low score, looked as if she had something up her sleeve. She was clearly very clever, and seemed pretty elusive in the way that she might slip right through your fingers if you tried to catch her. She might be tricky. Most of the others seemed lackluster and weak, most likely easily defeated. Except the District 11 boy, Thresh. Although he was massive, and had received a 10, he had rejected the invitation to the Career alliance that Cato had extended to him. His interview was dry, and he showed no interest in any of this. But he was definitely someone to look out for and most likely would get a few sponsors. He only answered yes or no. Clove didn't count him out yet, though. He was formidable and she had a feeling he would not go down in the arena without a fight. The little girl from 11, Rue, was fast and could climb. _So that's how she scored higher than most of the others,_ Clove thought to herself, _it's a shame she will have to die._

Finally, the District 12 girl, Katniss Everdeen, was up. She seemed simple-minded, a little starstruck, and giggly. When she spun around in her dress, Clove wanted to vomit. This girl literally made her sick to her stomach. She stumbled after her spin. She shared a look with Cato, and knew they were both thinking the same thing; _Really, this was the __was the girl who had scored higher than them?_ The only time she seemed anything but dim is when they asked about why she volunteered; for her little sister.

The District 12 boy, Peeta Mellark, was next. The crowd loved him. He was likable; well actually, Clove thought he was annoying, but the crowd clearly didn't. But when he proclaimed his love for Katniss, Clove found herself fisting her dress again. Not only did she detested Katniss, but she now detested him as well. He was an idiot using a ploy to get attention. It was pathetic. He was pathetic. But not to the Capitol people; they just loved silly things like this. Now Katniss had that much more of an edge. Clove couldn't bare it. She would kill them both, and it would be glorious. She would cut them up and she would enjoy it. She cast a glance at Cato, and he was gripping the edge of his chair as hard as he could to keep himself from jumping up and killing them both right then and there.

Although neither one of them would ever exploit what they had for the Hunger Games, Cato and Clove both couldn't fight not only the rise of anger and hate, but a bit of jealousy as well. The fact that he so easily proclaimed his love for Katniss was infuriating to the both of them; Cato and Clove had to hide whatever it was that they had and District 12 flaunted a (most likely fake) romance? They couldn't take it.

Cato and Clove were silent until in the apartment. Even in the living room, Cato said nothing. Clove was impressed. He didn't even break anything. They made a bee-line for his bedroom, ignoring their mentors and Wanda. Neither one of them wanted to throw a temper tantrum in front of them; at this point they had thrown so many it seemed rather pointless.

Once in Cato's room, Cato was on the brink of exploding with rage, but it was surprisingly Clove who lost it first. She let out a loud animal-like screeching sound, almost making Cato jump because he hadn't expected it. She screamed continuously as she grabbed one of her knives that Cato had forgotten to hide form her off of the bed-side table. She threw it at the wall. Cato felt the same way, but he wanted to see what she was going to do. It was intriguing to watch her lose it; mostly because it usually was such a rare occasion.

She kept screaming as she threw anything breakable in the room she could find; a glass vase full of flowers, a small mirror, a lamp... Clove just wanted to be destructive. She had been holding in her absolute hatred and disgust with District 12, the idiotic Capitol people, her parents; but she couldn't any longer. She was blind with rage, practically seeing red. She grabbed another glass, and held it in her hand while she smashed it against the wall. The broken glass cut her hand, but she didn't care. She wanted to feel the pain.

Cato snapped out of it and into action upon seeing the blood running down her arms. "Clove, stop! Seriously, it's enough!"

"No!" She bellowed. She went for another glass but Cato wrapped his arms around her tightly, holding her to himself. She fought him, screaming, shouting obscenities, tears streaming down her face (something he had never seen before). She probably didn't even know she was crying considering she was in such a state of rage. She tried to push him away. He just held her tighter. If he didn't stop her, he knew she would do irreparable damage to herself, and he couldn't have her severely wounding herself the night before they were to enter the arena. She turned around in his arms and beat his chest with her tiny fists hard enough to bruise him; he held her fast. Finally she dissolved into tears in his arms. He had literally never once seen her actually shed a tear before. He had never seen her like this; vulnerable and emotional were two traits that did not fit well with Clove. But she had finally lost it. He knew she was psychotic, but so was he. But his fits of anger were aimed at people and objects. Clove's were usually the same on the rare occasion that she had them, but when she was really pushed over the edge, he had only seen it twice before in the 7 years that he had known her, she would go so far as to hurt herself.

When her tears had subsided, he held her face in one of his hands, and kissed her gently. Clove kissed him back hard. He pulled back, and looked down into her hungry eyes. Her emotions were gone again; all she want was skin on skin. She wanted to touch, not feel. He looked down at her bleeding hand and _tsk, tsked _at her. He went to the bathroom and came back with a first aid kit. He pulled out some gauze and fixed up her hand, putting a cream on her hands that would heal her hand by morning.

"Clove. I have made an executive decision." He said with a smirk, putting all the medical supplies back in its box while she just sat on his bed, no longer wearing her dress, but wearing one of his t-shirts. "No more emotional outbursts for you; because then I don't get to have one, and you just manage to hurt yourself when you do." Clove muttered something her breath darkly. "What was that?" He asked as he came to stand beside her.

"I said it's your fault I even have these freaking emotions to have outbursts with in the first place." She said, avoiding his gaze.

Cato stood there, shocked. He didn't know how to react. He had never thought about that before. He didn't know why, but deep down, he knew she was right. All of her temper tantrums had been caused or linked to him. Before he and her became training partners, he knew she was different.

The first time he saw her 7 years ago, he could just tell she wasn't a normal girl. She was 8, but she looked more like a 6 year old, smaller than all of the other kids her age. But at her young age, she was entered into the academy, and her aim had been impeccable. He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it himself. Sure she was rough around the edges, not as skilled as she was today, but her potential was clear. But Cato also knew, from rumors he had been hearing around the academy, that she was cold-hearted, detached, and unstable. "_Damaged_" they had called her.

Cato knew at the time that he should focus on his own training rather than on a little girl. But he couldn't help but feel drawn to her; he found himself watching her train and wondering about her frequently. When she turned 10, they moved her up to Cato's class. Not only that, but the instructor had pulled him to the side to let him know he had paired Clove with him since Cato's old training partner had died in the most recent past Hunger Games. That, and she wasn't sure anyone else would be comfortable with her. Their instructor had warned him about Clove; if only he had listened.

Their first day as her training partner was nothing short of a catastrophe in Cato's eyes at the time. They didn't speak. Well, Clove didn't speak. Cato did, but Clove didn't respond. She just looked at him with those dead eyes, eyebrows raised. He felt like an idiot. Her unresponsiveness bothered him more than it should've. Finally, instead of trying to get to know her like he had hoped, he set up to spar. And when they sparred, Clove came to life. There was a light in her eyes; she was more alive than he had ever seen her. She was enchanting; so enchanting that she had caught him off-guard and almost defeated him. He had eventually bested her in that sparing session, and he could tell how enraged she was by her eyes. But only for a milli-second. Then she just looked bored. It infuriated him. She infuriated him.

Their days all went much like that first day for a long time; Cato trying to get a reaction, or even a word out of Clove and getting nothing. Then they'd spar; and sometimes he would win, sometimes she would win. When she won Cato was in a foul mood; when he won he was even worse. He loved winning but she didn't give him the satisfaction of actually feeling like he had won, and he started to hate her for taking that away from him. This continued on for about a year.

One day, when she was 11 and he was 14, he made a sarcastic comment about one of their instructors (who was making a complete ass out of herself), and her heard a noise that startled him; he turned to look at her and realized she was laughing. It was the first time he had ever heard her laugh. He could do nothing but look at her, captivated by the sound and thrown off that she had laughed. When she finished laughing, she reset to spar again. "Wanna go again?" He almost had a heart attack. Those were the first words she had ever spoken to him. "Well? What are you waiting for?" She said impatiently, and all he could do was stare at her with wide eyes for a few seconds in shock. He pulled himself together, and they went again like she requested.

Slowly, over the course of the next year, Clove spoke to him more and more. At first it was just superficial. But after 6 months, she started talking to him about other things; mostly because he pulled it out of her. He found out her parents were rarely ever home, and when they were... they weren't very nice. Well that was an understatement; they were borderline abusive, especially when it came to pushing her training for the games. They were also excessively neglectful. Cato's first thought was to kill her parents; when he thought this he didn't share it with her because he couldn't even believe he had thought it. From that point on, Cato felt the urge to protect his small, strange, and slightly psychotic training partner.

They started spending more and more time together outside of the Academy, and Cato noticed her starting to emote more. He saw her smile for the first time when she was 12, and it made his heart beat faster. That smile worked on him; she started using it anytime she wanted something from him because he couldn't ever really say no to it. Slowly, he started seeing her not as a little girl, but as a young woman. As a young woman he couldn't help but want to do awful things to. At first he thought he was going crazy; she was only 12. But he slowly started to accept it; it wasn't like he was ever that sane anyway.

On her 13th birthday, he couldn't hold back anymore and had kissed her. At first she tensed, eyes wide with surprise, and for a second he thought she was gonna cut him. But when he went to pull away, she had held his face tightly in her little hands, refusing to let go. And she kissed back. She had never been kissed before, he knew that. He was eventually the one who took her virginity as well; not that she neglected. She practically ripped his pants off the first time they had sex.

Somewhere along the line, they started using their physical attractions against each other in a twisted sort of game. But it started to develop into something more. It scared the crap out of them both, and whenever he felt too close, he would go off and screw a random girl to try and push her away. It never worked; none of them ever made him feel like she did, none of them ever matched him. She was there waiting for him when he came back to her every time; and the first few times it had happened, she had cut him with her favorite knife just enough to make him suffer. The next couple of times, she didn't. It confused him because Clove wasn't one to just "let people off the hook." Then, he heard through the grapevine that she had in fact slept with another guy the last two times Cato had done it to her. He didn't like that; it ticked him off immensely. She was his. He realized how she felt suddenly, because he was hers just as much as she was his. Sure they weren't dating, but they had a death grip on each other. That was when he realized he would never be able to completely separate himself from her. He couldn't even imagine how she felt, because he had done some stupid shit to her.

_How she felt._

Cato snapped out of his reverie, realizing he was in fact the reason Clove felt anything at all. "I'm sorry." He said, realizing how stuck they were. Where they were now... where they would be tomorrow. Cato wanted to bash things into walls too.

"For what?" She snapped at him, grimacing down at her hand, paying him barely any attention.

Cato didn't respond to her, he just came to stand in front of her. She looked up at him and saw how he was looking at her. Before she could do anything, he pushed her down lightly, so that she was laying on the bed. He hovered over her for a moment, straddling her, hands holding down her wrists. He wanted to do things his way. He knew she would try and grab him because she was so damn impatient, but he wanted to do this for one last time on his terms. He slowly lowered his face to hers, kissing her lightly on the mouth once. Then he kissed her jaw, her neck. Her eyes fluttered shut and she bit her lip. Clove had almost forgotten how good he was, it was, when he took his time with her.

He let go briefly to slowly pull his shirt off of her body, and then took of the one he was wearing as well. He saw how hard she was trying to hold back. He returned to her, and switched his grip on her wrists so he held both of them in one. He continued to kiss down her body. He ripped off her bra, and she jerked at his brief moment of animal roughness; it was almost better in short bursts because she didn't see it coming. He kissed a trail to both of her breast, sucking on one while he played with the other. She couldn't hold back a moan. He switched to her other breast, moving his hand down to rub her in between her legs. Through her lacy underwear, he could feel just how wet she was. She tried to restrain herself, but she couldn't help but to buck her hips up, demanding more attention between her legs. He pulled back, shaking a finger at her, and she groaned in protest. Cato then kissed down her stomach, and then back up again. Clove couldn't take it anymore.

"Cato," She said as his face finally was staring down at hers. "I know you want to do this slow, but I can't wait." She said, wrapping her legs around his waist. "I want you to fuck me and I want you to do it right now." She demanded.

He rolled his eyes at her impatience, but said, "I'm sure we can arrange something... eventually." She groaned, knowing she would have to wait. He made her wait for longer than she liked, but soon enough he was inside her, and they were moving their bodies together, both of them writhing, moaning, and clutching at each other. Clove would miss this closeness, this pleasure. They both felt it building inside of them, and she soon came, screaming his name. He wasn't far behind her, and collapsed after he came, groaning her name once. Then he rolled so that he was beside her and not on top of her to avoid crushing her. He held her in his arms, and they fell asleep like that, wishing they could stay that way.


	9. Chapter 9

**Dear Readers,**_  
_

**So I'm sorry it took me so long to update I was just stumped and didn't really feel like writing the chapter leading up to the games so I started working on some other stuff. But I finally finished it, despite much procrastination. Sorry it's so short, also, but I felt like the actual beginning of the games, like the bloodbath scene, needed to be it's own chapter. I hope you enjoy.**

**Also;**

**PropertyOfMe95:I have to agree with you, and I'm glad you like it because I work really hard to attempt and portray them in a believable way. Thanks so much!**

**thefanfictiongirl:I'm really glad you enjoy my portrayal! I like Marvel too, I wasn't sure if I would but he kind of wrote himself in a way and turned out being awesome if that makes any sense. did you enjoy the interview scene and their reactions? I hope you keep reading and enjoy!**

**Thanks so much to all! Especially to inluv4eva, who is reviewing some of my scenes for me so I can make sure I keep capturing Cato and Clove correctly and basically for just reassuring me on my writing of them! You're awesome! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_Clove and Cato were standing face to face in the clearing of a forest. Clove didn't remember how they had gotten there, but she instantly knew something was wrong. He was too wrecked, almost devastated, for this to be a good thing. Her instincts were telling her that she was in serious danger. She knew she should be running from him or fighting for her life right now but she stayed rooted to the spot in which she stood, staring back at Cato. She was as stuck physically as she was mentally; she knew she could never escape Cato. He was her biggest downfall. It made her weak. But she couldn't afford to be weak. _

_She suddenly struck out with her knife against him; he grabbed her by the wrist before she could make contact. He squeezed her wrist so hard that her hand involuntarily loosened on the weapon and dropped it._

_She tried to punch him with her other hand, but he had been expecting that; he had ducked the punch and then rammed her in the stomach with his shoulder, smashing her into a tree. She had gotten the breath knocked out of her but she managed to recover quickly enough to duck out of Cato's grip and get away from the tree so as to not be cornered._

"_Clove, wait!" She forced herself to take a step backwards anyways. As soon as her foot hit the ground, Cato's eyes were full of alarm. He grabbed her tightly by her arms. She tried to push away from him, but he was holding her too tight._

_He then slid his hand up to the back of her neck, pulling her head towards his, resting his forehead against her. He was breathing heavy, eyes closed. She closed her eyes too, reveling in the moment. "I'm sorry."_

"_For what?" Clove asked automatically, knowing she did not really want to know the answer._

"_This." Suddenly she felt him shift and then she felt a intense pain unlike any other in her stomach. She was so shocked she couldn't even manage a scream. Her eyes flew open, looking down. He had run her completely through with his sword. She looked back up in his eyes and saw nothing. She felt her body going numb, and then she was falling and screaming into the black._

Clove woke up screaming, thrashing in her bed. Someone was holding her tight saying, "Clove! Clove, it's okay! You're fine." Clove looked up at Cato's face, breathing heavy. Her hair clung to her face in sweat, and he pushed it back out of her face. She pulled out of his arms, turning over to face away from him as she tried to make sense of what just happened. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She said. He had not stabbed her, she was not dead, they were in a room in the Capitol... and today was the day they entered the Arena. Somehow, Clove had the thought that the fact that the day she had been waiting for, training for, her entire life was here would make her feel better. It didn't. Today was the Hunger Games. She couldn't even believe it. Her dream had soured her excitement, but she was still able to get a bit excited. They would be escorted to be prepared in less than an hour.

"They're back." Cato finally said. "It's been so long since you have had one... I thought they wouldn't come back." Clove used to have terrible nightmares about death and decay, violence an pain. It seemed to be just a normal case of night terrors or nightmares or whatever, but Clove knew in reality that it was so much worse than that. The part that really got to Clove is that she, while terrified, also was usually excited during these nightmares; she got some sort of sick, twisted pleasure. She was having these dreams before she even entered the Academy. That was the point when Clove realized she was not normal and might even be a bit psycho. She had only been five then.

"Me neither." Clove said flatly. When Cato and her started sleeping together the nightmares continued, and he learned quickly that this was just the natural order of things. But she had been having less after about six months of him sleeping beside her and she had not actually had one for almost the entire past year. Until now.

He paused, and then asked, "What was this one about?"

Clove tried not to react. "The usual. Blood, lots of blood." She said, shivering at the recollection of how there had been an immense amount of her _own _blood at his hands. She didn't elaborate and he didn't ask her about it any further, which relieved Clove. This wasn't her usual type of nightmare; she had never dreamt about Cato actually killing her. Sure she had dreamt of killing him during the time period when she loathed him, and had dreamed about them torturing each other but in enjoyable yet sick ways. But she had never had a nightmare about her actual death before, much less at Cato's hands. It had thrown her off, and with the Games being literally hours away, Clove couldn't afford to be thrown. Her life's dream was in reach, and Cato (although not purposely) was once again in her way. But she almost didn't want him to move.

Finally, their stylists (Cicero and the lady who styles Cato, Clove couldn't really remember her name) came to the room and gave them each a simple shift to put on. They then excused themselves for a few moments so they could get dressed, but it was really so they could say goodbye.

Clove was already completely stripped down before she said, "Cato, I don't really want to kill you... but I want this." Clove said, referring to the games. "I really, really want this."

Cato didn't say anything. He just came up behind her, already naked himself. Their hands roamed each others' bodies as if to memorize every inch of each other. Cato grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. In no time Cato was slamming Clove, whose legs were locked around his waist, against the wall. He fucked her up against the wall and she rode every last second of the waves of pleasure she felt. They both were screaming as the came at the same time, not even caring if anyone heard. Cato, still inside her, looked her in the eyes and said. "Clove, I hope you know by now that killing you is the last thing I want to do... but I want this just as badly."

Clove nodded and then he pulled out of her and then they slid on their slips in silence. He turned to leave, and she said, "And Cato..." He turned to face her. "May the odds be ever in your favor." She said with a smirk.

He smirked back, cupping her face in his hands, kissing her lightly on the lips. "May the odds be ever in your favor." He repeated back to her. Then he was gone.

Clove lingered for a moment, not even sure if she could actually believe all this was happening. She was going into the Hunger Games, and she could not have more of an adrenaline rush going at the moment.

She exited her room and followed Cicero to the roof. A hovercraft was there when they arrived. The final preparations begin in a sort of maze of underground rooms under the actual arena. A ladder to the hovercraft was lowered for her, and as soon as Clove touched the ladder, she was stuck to it. There was a current that kept her on the ladder until she was in the hovercraft.

As soon as she was inside, before she was even released, a nurse came in with a syringe. She informed Clove it was her tracker- which meant that the Gamemakers would know where she was at all times. Clove barely feels the stab of the needle. Clove was not really a baby for pain. When she was done, Clove felt the ladder release her. Cicero then joined her in the hovercraft.

Clove and Cicero followed an Avox to a room where there was a bunch of food laid out. Clove was almost too excited to eat but she immediately grabbed some food and forced it down. She didn't want to be distracted by feeling starved in the arena, especially with the initial bloodbath that would occur. She did however, only eat healthy food because she did not want to feel sluggish.

About thirty minutes into the plane ride, Clove noticed the windows had suddenly been blacked out. She got even more excited because she knew that meant they were getting close to the arena.

Once the hovercraft lands, Clove and Cicero went down a ladder, into a tube, and underground. They went through a maze of tunnels before finally arriving in the Launch room; the place where she would be prepared for the games.

Cicero instructs Clove to strip and shower, so she does. This will be her last shower for a while she knows, so she takes as long as Cicero will allow. Then she brushes her teeth.

Cicero pulls her hair up into a ponytail. Clove moves her head side to side and then frowns. "What's wrong?" Cicero asked.

"I know it sounds crazy but it's the ponytail; it's distracting because the hair hits my face and I can hear it moving." She explained.

"Not crazy; I don't want you to be off your game." He looked at her hair and then looked like a lightbulb went off in his head. "Hold on." He took her ponytail and segmented it by putting ponytail holders around it every inch or so. "Try now." It held the hair back a little more; enough to keep it out of her face.

"Good." Clove nodded. Then Cicero receives the package with her arena clothes and opens it. Clove could barely contain her excitement at this point. Cicero helps her dress. She puts on a pair of undergarments first and then Cicero helps her pull on the rest of her clothes; first there's a pair of simple brown pants, then a red shirt, a brown belt, and then a thin dark red jacket which Cicero explains is designed to reflect body heat. She then pulls on a pair of soft, brown, leather boots over skintight socks.

"Let me look at you." Cicero said when they were finished. She stood with her chin up and he smiled. "You're ready. How do you feel?"

"I feel so excited that I'm gonna explode if I don't get into the arena soon." Clove told him.

He shook his head. "You are by far the strangest tribute I have ever styled; but that's a good thing." He added. "But unfortunately we just have to wait until they call."

Clove ended up pacing before too long; she couldn't sit still. She just wanted to get in the arena, get her hands on a knife, and do some damage.

When they finally announced it was time to prepare for launch, Clove grinned as she moved over to the circular metal plate. Cicero came to stand in front of her. "You know, I really do hope you win. You'd make a fine victor."

"I know." Clove grinned. Then she suddenly felt the need to say something nice to the man she had come to have some respect for. "Out of all the stylists I could have had, you weren't so bad."

"Since I know that's your way of giving a compliment, I have to say thanks." Clove grinned wider. He really wasn't so bad.

Then she was encased by a glass cylinder. Then Clove began to rise until she couldn't see Cicero anymore. Then she was surrounded by darkness. Her heart was beating extremely fast as her excitement began peaking. Then she was out of the tunnel and brightness surrounded her and she had to wait a few moments for her eyes to really adjust to her surroundings.

"Ladies and gentleman, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Dear Readers,**

**Wow, I am on a ROLL. Two chapters in 24 hours? It's crazy. I wrote this one in the wee hours last night, and I decided to wait until the morning to post it so I could just edit and proofread it to make sure there aren't any tired insane mistakes.**

**Also;**

**Theatergirl6: Thanks! Here is the first chapter of the games! Ho****pe you like :)**

**koyamon-lover: I am happy tht you like it, and hope this update was soon enough lol**

**inluv4eva:Thanks! I hope you like this one just as much :)**

**So without further a due, here is the chapter where the games really begin! Enjoy!**

**-esl1852**

* * *

Clove knew she was supposed to wait for sixty seconds; it was agonizing. She was itching to get her hands on a knife and start eliminating the competition. But she knew better; she didn't wanna end up blown sky high before the games even began.

The first thing she was check her surroundings. She noted the Cornucopia in front of them; it was massive and full of tons of goodies that Clove couldn't wait to get her hands on. They were on an open stretch of land. There was a lake on the far right. Behind her there is a thick wooded area. Opposite the wooded area was a field of extremely tall grass.

The second thing she did was locate Cato. He was a couple of tributes down from her and standing in a ready position, looking as if he was itching to get his hands on a weapon as much as she was. His focus didn't break at all, which she assumed meant he found the sword he wanted.

Clove then took to survey of all the items spilling out of the Cornucopia. She saw some useful things; a tent, a spear, a bow and arrows, packs containing who knows what. But Clove didn't care about any of that, not really. No, she was trying to locate what she wanted most. Her weapons. The Gamemakers had to have put a set of knives in here. They just had to. Clove noted there was one or two bigger knives lying not to far from the mouth of the Cornucopia, but those were not what she wanted. And then, with 15 seconds to spare, she finally saw what she wanted. Right by the mouth of the cornucopia, there was a vest holding a set of knives, at least six, maybe eight. That was hers. It was meant for her and nothing would keep her from it. Clove's vision was completely locked on the vest, focused only on securing it for herself.

When the countdown reached zero, Clove was off of her platform faster than any of the other tributes. She was little and lean, and she had less strength than tributes like Cato, but man was she fast. She darted towards the mouth, falling to her knees as she grabbed the vest of knives immediately. She counted eight knives. Satisfied with her prize, she quickly looked up and around. Cato was stabbing the boy from District 6 with a stunning sword. He looked at her, nodding in the way that said _Go ahead, put it on, I'll cover you_. She slipped the vest on in no time and then Cato was off, slicing his sword through someone else, picking up the object the fallen tribute had been holding.

Clove looked around to check out her allies. The District 4 girl was struggling a bit, but she was managing. Clove didn't see the District 4 boy at all. Marvel was stabbing the girl from District 3, who had not realized her mistake when she grabbed the spear Marvel had wanted, with a curved knife. After a couple stabs, he was satisfied, taking the spear, going after a blonde girl that Clove was pretty sure was District 6. The girl from district 3 who Marvel had injured didn't even have time to get up before she was pulled off the ground by the District 5 boy who then slashed her open with a sword. She was definitely dead. It was then that Clove spotted Glimmer. Clove noticed that Glimmer was, in fact, not doing bad at all. She had a knife in her hand and was stabbing the district 10 girl tribute she had wrestled to the ground. Unfortunately, Clove didn't see District 12 anywhere. Clove noticed that the little girl from 11 was nowhere in sight either.

It was then that Clove saw the District 4 boy closing in on her, barely 6 feet away from her. Clove went to grab a knife off of her vest, but Cato came out of nowhere, stabbing the kid through the stomach, then pulling his sword out. The kid fell to the ground, and Cato looked back over his shoulder at Clove. She was a little pissed as she came to stand next to Cato.

"I had him Cato." Clove said, irritated.

"You didn't even have a knife in your hand, so complain if you want, but you'll thank me later." Cato said, and then jogged off, skewering the District 5 boy with his sword before she could say another word.

Clove pulled out one of her knives, looking down at the district 4 boy. He was almost dead, so there was no point in stabbing him again; besides she didn't want him. She wanted another, more prized victim. She certainly didn't want Cato's half-dead leftovers. Before the light drained completely drained out of the boys eyes however, Clove said, "Crossing someone you have an alliance with? Dick move." Then she was off, no longer worried about the District 4 boy. She was really searching for one person, and one person only. The Girl on Fire.

Clove realized that Katniss would be too smart and cowardly to just dive in to the bloodbath, unfortunately. So she ran a little farther away from the mouth of the Cornucopia and started surveying the areas around the platforms. She pulled out five other knives, since she could only hold the six of them in one hand, so she wouldn't even have to grab from the vest, she could just throw them. She hoped to the good lord Katniss hadn't fled, because she really wanted the opportunity to kill her herself. If she didn't get her now, she would have to fight with Cato over the right to kill her later.

Clove finally locked on to her, unable to contain the grin of excitement on her face. Katniss was grappling with the boy from District 9 for a backpack. The district 9 boy was in her line of fire, so while she was running their way, Clove launched her first knife at him. It hit him right in the back and he coughs blood right into her face and she looks completely shocked and disgusted. Then the boy falls and Katniss realizes what happened, and locks her fearful gaze on Clove. She was only ten yards away from Katniss at this point.

Katniss gets up, slinging the backpack on her shoulder, running away from Clove; she's surprisingly fast. Clove was hoping to have fun with killing this girl, but decided it was now or never, and launched a knife at her head. Suddenly, the girl hikes the backpack up enough to cover her head and the knife lodges in the pack. _No!_ Clove thought to herself as she stopped dead in her tracks. _I was so close!_ She keeps running after her, hoping to catch up, but Katniss is already gone in the woods.

Clove let out a frustrated scream before heading back towards the Cornucopia. Not only had she missed her golden opportunity, but she had lost one of her freaking knives. She was not happy at all, and that was an understatement.

She saw the girl from District 7 trying to escape to the woods. She would not be as lucky as District 12. Clove tackled her to the ground, where she pinned her down. She made small slices in the girl in her stomach, her face, her arms. When the girl screamed for mercy with tears running down her cheeks and mixing with the blood, Clove sliced her throat open. She gargled, choking on her own blood. Clove watched as the light drained out of her eyes, and felt a sick and twisted adrenaline rush because of the death she had caused.

Clove stood up, no longer enthralled with the now dead girl on the ground. She was farther away from the Cornucopia than the others. It seemed as if the bloodbath was over for the most part. Bodies were littered all over, eleven dead Clove counted, and the others were now going through some of the supplies, seeing what there was.

Suddenly, Clove could hear a fight breaking out between Cato and the District 4 girl. When she was earshot, she realized it was about Cato killing her district partner. "We had an alliance, Cato!" The girl screamed at him.

"Yea, we did, didn't we Tara?" Cato said, and Clove realized that she had been way off on her guesses of the girls name. Clove came to stand by Cato. Glimmer and Marvel were only a few feet away; they had been looking through the supplies where they were before Tara and Cato started fighting. "So if we have an alliance, why did your district partner try and kill my district partner?" Cato said, motioning to Clove.

Tarar glanced at Clove and then back at him. "He wouldn't! There's no way. Our mentor told us-" She started desperately, but Cato cut her off.

"Ask Clove. It's the only reason I killed the kid, you know." He told her, and then looked to Clove. "By the way, it's later." He meant she should thank him.

There was no way in hell she would give him the satisfaction of an actual thank you. "I told you I had him. So you just did what I would've done anyway. Really, all you did as screw me out of a kill."

"Whatever Clove." He said. Tara tried to continue their argument, but Cato just walked away, signifying that in his eyes, their conversation was over.

Tara looked to Clove for confirmation. "Did he really try to kill you?" Clove nodded. Tara looked like she had been slapped in the face.

Clove turned and looked around, picking up a bunch of other knives. She even figured out a way to hook them into her jacket. As soon as the cannons boomed, they all moved out of the way so that the hovercrafts could retrieve dead tributes.

As they were lifting them in the air, Cato came over to Clove. "I heard you scream during the bloodbath. What happened?"

Clove made a face. This is not something she really felt like talking about. "She got away."

"Twelve?" Cato asked, and Clove nodded. "How did that even happen? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you _never_ miss." He said, confused.

"Yea you're telling me! I did notice, but thanks for pointing that out, jerkwad." Clove said, angry. "Besides, I got closer to killing her than you did."

"I'm just wondering Clove. No need to be pissy."

"She used the backpack as a shield and then the knife hit the bag and she took it with her! So I lost her and one of my knives. So excuse me for being pissy." She said, and then stood up, moving away from Cato.

"Oh, come on, Clove. Really?" He said, clearly irritated. She didn't really care if he was, she was pretty irritated herself; she didn't need to be reminded she had fucked up.

Clove did immediately regret her decision to walk away from him though, because Glimmer was suddenly all over Cato again. He looked her way, smirking at Clove before turning back to flirt with Glimmer for a few moments. _Oh come on, really? You're that petty that you're gonna flirt with her to piss me off? _Clove thought to herself. Clove held her arms out when he looked at her again, as if to say, _What the fuck_, _bruh?_ Cato just smirked deeper. She couldn't deny now that he was in fact being spiteful and flirting with Glimmer to piss her off. And as much as she hated to admit it, it was working. _Fucking Glimmer. I can't even say she's useless now because she's actually not completely useless. Fucking bitch_. Clove thought, glowering to herself.

Once all the bodies were gone, all of them decided to start sorting through the supplies from the Cornucopia. There was everything they could ever really need and then some. They were set for the entire games; there was no way they were dying from any natural causes. There was some cool stuff they found; like the two pairs of night vision glasses that Cato and Clove found and claimed for themselves.

Once they had taken inventory of all their supplies, they set up the three tent-like things, putting sleeping bags and their weapons under them. Marvel came up with the great idea, since each tent could only really fit two of them sleeping comfortably, of sleeping by district. Glimmer pouted, but went along with it. Clove hadn't notice it before because she was so focused on Glimmer flirting with Cato, but Glimmer and Marvel actually seemed pretty close. Not necessarily like they had been sleeping together (although, Clove felt like with Glimmer she couldn't really rule that idea out either) but as if they hadn't just met each other. They acted almost like siblings the way they interacted actually, as if they had known each other for a long time.

Marvel was actually the most enjoyable element of their little career pack for Clove. He had been waiting so long to get into the Hunger Games, and now that he was here, he was geeking out about everything and anything. He had pumped himself up so much that he was almost overexcited (if that was honestly even possible) for the Games. He couldn't even contain how giddy he was. He just could not stop himself and Clove found it hilarious; he was like great entertainment. While going through all the other supplies, Marvel even kept trying to get Clove to geek out with him about all the freaking awesome stuff they had. Clove was not one to "geek out" but when he started raving on about the excessive weapons, Clove couldn't help but to jump in with him about all her knives. She was in love with all of them. The Gamemakers had made her a happy little knife-thrower for sure. Glimmer seemed happy to see Marvel so freaking excited. Cato and Tara were just as excited to be there too, but they couldn't help rolling their eyes at Marvel. He was so ridiculous. But then, that was probably why Clove liked him so much.

They piled the rest of the supplies in a big mound, putting the stuff on the outside that they would be more prone to use. It wouldn't get stolen because one person would watch it when the rest slept. And honestly, who would steal from the careers? The threat of certain death was enough to keep other tributes away for now. At least until they started to get desperate.

"What's our next move?" Marvel said as darkness was quickly falling, ready to do something. He was practically bouncing around the tents. Clove sat on an empty crate that had once held a tent. She was sitting under the tent Cato and her would be sharing. Clove was cutting up an apple into pieces. Cato was surveying his swords from another overturned crate beside Clove, and he was every once and a while popping a piece of cut up apple into his mouth whenever Clove handed him a piece. Tara stood next to Glimmer, who was standing next to Cato. Marvel stood in front of Cato and Clove with a big grin on his face. Clove couldn't help but grin, looking from him to Cato.

Cato caught her grin, and gave her his own in return. Marvel was hilarious, and even though they had gotten into a little spat before, it was hard not to fall back into their old patterns.

The national anthem started playing and the seal of the Capitol appeared in the sky, and Cato said "Well Marvel, if you could contain your excitement for a few minutes, we will wait until they finish showing the dead and then we will do something you'll enjoy."

"Which is?" Marvel said, his eyes glinting in excitement.

"Hunting tributes." Cato said. "What else?"

That seemed to satisfy Marvel, and they all watched the pictures of the dead appearing in the sky. They were quiet except for when people shouted, "I killed that one!" Or "That one was mine!" and other things like that. Cato had killed the boy from district 4 (which he didn't say when he saw the kids picture because Tara was obviously still a little bitter about it) and the boys from districts 5 and 6. Technically the guy from 5 killed the girl from 3, but Marvel did the hard part and incapacitated her, so Clove thought he really deserved the credit. Marvel also killed the girls from districts 6 and 9. Clove herself had killed the girl from 7 and the boy from 9, which Cato nodded in approval about. She rolled her eyes. Duh she could kill two people; she would've killed more if she weren't so focused on Katniss. Tara only had one kill; the boy from district 8. It wasn't anything special, but she had managed to not get killed so she wasn't awful.

Glimmer had killed the boy from 7 and the girl from 10; she had the same number of kills as Clove, so Clove decided that even though she hated her, Glimmer was not a waste of space and was at least an asset (although she was better with other weapons than with a bow and arrow from what Clove could tell, so she wasn't sure why Glimmer insisted on taking them). Clove decided at that moment she wouldn't kill Glimmer in her sleep. Plus if she did, Marvel probably wouldn't be too happy with her. _No, I guess I won't be killing her. _Clove thought to herself just as Glimmer let out a loud laugh at something Cato had said, saying how funny Cato was. _Or I might be killing her. Things are still up for debate if she keeps laughing like that._

When the sky went blank after the girl from District 10's face flashed in the sky, Marvel was already standing. He held a backpack and two spears. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Nothing." Cato said with a grin, looking at the girls. "Ready ladies?" Cato grabbed his sword and Clove was once again getting excited; the idea of slicing into more bodies had sparked another adrenaline rush. She already had her knives all stored on her person, and she had put the night vision glasses on herself, but she put a very small pack with some water, an apple and a small package of crackers in it.

They all were ready in a matter of minutes. Cato had his own night vision glasses on his head and said, "Let's go hunt some tributes." With a mad glint of his own in his eyes. Then, he pulled them down over his eyes, and the other tributes lit some torches. Clove noticed Marvel had a small pack of matches, and slid them back into his pack before the headed into the woods. Clove felt every bit of the excitement; they were Careers, they were predators. And it was time for them to hunt.


	11. Chapter 11

**Dear Readers,**

**For starters, to try and keep it as true to the book as possible, I've taken a few things from the book (like when Katniss overhears the Careers talking), so NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED! I just wanna write some fanfiction :)**

**Onto the next thing; this chapter has a scene that is a little graphic in the violent sort of way, so just be warned.**

**Also,****I really appreciate all of your reviews, they make me happy :) I'm glad you're all enjoying my story so much! I hope you like this one too!****  
**

**koyamon-lover: I know, Isn't he adorable? Glad you're enjoying it!**

**PropertyOfMe95: Thanks! Glad to hear that you're excited :)**

**Theatergirl6: Hahaha it's okay, it's fun to be punny :) Plus Marvel is just awesome (even though I love Cato best). No prob! Hope this chapter is just as enjoyable for you!**

**Thanks for all the love!**

**Enjoy! Read! Review! **

**-esl1852**

* * *

The Careers were moving quickly and quietly through the woods. It had been a few hours and they hadn't encountered anyone, but that was most likely because those who had escaped the blood bath had retreated far enough into the forest to not be caught quickly by them. They just needed to go further and do so as subtly as possible so as to not prematurely alert any other tributes to their location; they didn't want them to have time to escape. Cato knew patience was required in order for them to successfully kill any more tributes at this point. Clove on the other hand, looked as if she was going to explode if they didn't find something soon; her impatience drove Cato crazy.

Tara was following a set of footprints while they were all following Tara. As it turns out, she was quite a skilled tracker.

Clearly, she wasn't moving quick enough for Clove, though. "I'm bored. We have been at this for hours and have not seen a single soul. I'm itching to kill something."

"These things take time." Tara said, not even looking up at her. She was too focused on the tracks. "Besides, these prints are pretty fresh; I'd say we are getting pretty close."

"You said that a half hour ago."

"Yes, and now we are getting closer."

"How can you even tell?" Marvel shot Cato a questioning look as Clove continued to badger Tara. Cato just shook his head, not really feeling like explaining the nature of Clove's impatience.

"I know what I'm doing." Tara said, looking up at her, clearly getting pissed off by Clove.

"That's debatable."

"Clove, would you just give it a rest and leave Tara too it?" Cato finally said, irritated.

"Why are you siding with _her_?" Clove said, whipping around to face him.

"Because, Clove, I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't give you what you want in the exact moment that you want it." Cato said with exasperation.

"Stop making me out to be a tyrant Cato, because I'm really not!" She said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, well, 7 years of life experience says otherwise." Cato said with a smirk and then exchanged a look with Marvel.

Before Clove could respond, there was a noise, like a branch cracking under someone's foot. Clove's eyes lit up as her head turned to the direction from which the sound had come. "Did you hear that?" She whispered excitedly.

"Clove-" Cato tried to warn her but she was no longer listening. Clove was off in a flash; she was faster than all the others. "Dammit." Cato cursed under his breath as he set off to try and keep up with her. Not only had Clove always been quick on her feet, but she was on a huge adrenaline rush because they were on their first hunt. And Cato was officially breaking a sweat just trying to keep Clove in his sights. Cato was most definitely not slow; he was pretty fast himself. But Clove herself was on a whole other level when it came to speed. The others were not too far behind Cato. Marvel had actually managed to stay generally by Cato's side. Glimmer and Tara were only a few paces behind them.

When Clove managed to actually run so fast that Cato had lost sight of her, he was worried. "Shit. I can't see her anymore." Cato said through his labored breathing.

"I can't either." Marvel huffed back. Cato pushed himself to run faster.

Up ahead, he heard someone, or two someones (including Clove, he guessed) hit the ground with a grunt. There were sounds of a struggle. Cato thought he could hear a masculine voice and started getting more worried. The thought of Clove going up against someone like Thresh freaked Cato out.

When the sounds of the struggle died down, even though they were closer, Cato got even more worried. "Clove!" Cato called out. "Where are you?"

"Over here!" She called back and he followed her voice. She was only a few feet away. Cato saw her come into view. She was on the ground on top of someone. Cato and Marvel came to stand beside her. Cato was relieved that Clove was okay. He didn't even know why he worried in the first place.

Clove didn't even really notice them at first; she was still focused on the conversation she was having with the boy. "Has anyone ever told you that you walk through the woods like a bull in a china shop?" She didn't seem any worse for the wear than she had been before her tussle with the tribute she has managed to take down.

"Well I'm sure not gonna be walking any quieter after you busted my kneecap with your heel." The boy said, breathing heavily. _Wait a minute,_ Cato thought to himself, _I know that voice._

Marvel re-lit his torch and shined the light in tribute's face. Cato couldn't believe their luck when he realized who Clove had managed to take down. It was the District 12 boy, Peeta, that Clove had managed to tackle to the ground. His face was a little bloody and bruised, his arm was cut pretty deep, and Clove had a knife at his neck.

"Well, well, well. Look at what Clove found wandering through the woods on it's own." Cato said to Marvel, who looked pretty damn excited again.

"Oh, Cato." Clove said, finally noticing their presence at his words. "Good timing. I was just trying to figure out where to start cutting." She looked up at Cato when he didn't respond right away. "I can have him, right?" Clove asked.

Cato looked to Marvel, and the other girls who had just gotten there. "There will be plenty of other kills, buddy." Cato said to Marvel.

Marvel looked a little let down, but nodded in agreement. "True. Besides, it's her kill anyways. She already took care of the hard part."

Clove looked satisfied, turning her attention back to Lover Boy. "Say goodbye, Lover Boy." Clove said maliciously, raising the knife above her head, driving it down towards his head.

He dodged his head out of the way, and Clove stabbed the ground instead.

"Why you little-"

"Wait!" He shouted.

Clove let out a noise of frustration, grabbing him by the neck. "What?" She snapped at him.

"I want to join you." Clove let out a loud, sadistic laugh. The other two girls were laughing as well; even Marvel sniggered a bit.

"Is he serious?" Glimmer giggled.

"Yea, right. Like little Lover Boy here would ever dream of teaming up with us." Clove said, raising her knife again, holding him steady with the grip she had around his throat.

"Hold on, Clove." Cato said. The wheels were turning in his head. He had an idea. Even if Lover Boy was doing this as an act of desperation, they could use him. He would probably know where his district partner went; and he probably knew what her special skill was. He was just ripe with information; information that Cato wanted.

"What now, Cato?" Clove said with extreme irritation.

"Why do you want to join us?" Cato said, looking at Lover Boy. All the others looked at Cato with wide eyes and confusion.

"Are you serious?" Clove hissed at him. "Don't tell me you're actually listening to this-"

"Clove if I don't like what he says, you can cut him up, okay? Would you just give me like five minutes?" Cato asked with exasperation.

Clove pouted, but nodded. "Fine. You can have five minutes, but after that, I start cutting off fingers."

"Go on." Cato nodded to Lover Boy. "Answer me. And make it fast, because she's not kidding about the fingers thing."

"Isn't it obvious?" Lover boy said. "Allying myself with you is a smart move; you're the only real competitors I have to worry about in this game, aside from one or two others. If I wanna live, this is the way I have to go. Besides, I'm also not a complete waste of space. I can be an asset to you; I do have some talents." Cato knew that was probably true; he had gotten the same score as Glimmer and Tara during his private training session. He also knew he was probably lying about why he wanted to join; he most likely wanted to find his little girlfriend, and he couldn't do that if Clove cut him up into a thousand tiny little pieces.

"That's all good and well," Clove said in her sickly sweet voice. "but can I kill him now?" She was clearly not having any of it.

That's when Cato noticed there was a knife almost a foot away from Lover Boy, and it wasn't one that he recognized. He saw that Clove had a tiny red line on the side of her neck. It looked like a scratch, but Cato bet it wasn't. He couldn't even believe his eyes. "Hold on, Clove."

"Not unless you give me a good reason, Cato!"

"Clove, I said hold on. That means I have a good reason." He looked at Lover Boy with newfound respect. "Did you nick her neck with your knife? Did you actually manage that?" Cato asked him. Clove tensed, and Cato knew in that moment that Lover Boy had indeed done it. Clove hated being bested, by anyone, ever, in any way shape or form. That was probably why she wanted so badly to kill him. Lover Boy nodded hesitantly. "So you're not too bad with a knife. No one I know has ever managed that." Except himself he thought, but decided not to bring it up because Clove already seemed ticked off enough. "And you're sure you want to be a part of the alliance?" Lover Boy nodded again.

Clove looked live she was going to literally explode with rage. She pressed her knife against his throat. "I'll give you ten seconds to start telling the truth about why you want to join us; if you don't, I'll start by cutting out your tongue!"

"Clove, That's enough." Cato told her tensely.

"Oh do me a favor and just _bite me_, Cato." Clove snapped at him. "I don't have to listen to you, ya know? I am the one who found him, I'm the one who took him down, and I should be the one who decides what we do with him. So I'm doing this my way, and there's nothing you can do about."

Cato rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay, sure I can't." He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her off of Lover Boy. He slammed her into a tree, and then pried the knife out of her hand, pocketing it.

"Oh come on Cato! Let me at him! He's my kill! Besides, he's not even that skilled. He's practically useless!" Clove pulled out of his grasp, but he grabbed her back again, holding her tightly to his chest.

"Now, Clove. I think you're just mad he landed a cut on you." He tsked at her, but in reality, all he did was tick her off more. She continued to throw her temper tantrum; she was thrashing in his arms, kicking and screaming obscenities aimed at Cato and Lover Boy. Cato just tried to contain her as much as he possibly could.

Glimmer and Tara looked shocked; none of the others had ever really seen Clove like this before. Marvel, while never having seem her in complete tantrum mode, seemed a little less surprised. That being said, he still rose his eyebrows at her.

"Tara, you brought medical supplies, right?" Cato asked her, and she nodded. "Well help fix the kid up, will you?"

"Alright." She conceded, moving to Lover Boy. She was also pretty good with medical stuff. She might not have been the fiercest competitor, but she had a skill set that was definitely useful.

Cato was getting a little annoyed with how she was repeatedly kicking her heels into his thighs. He threw Clove over his shoulder as she continued to kick and punch his back, calling his a lousy son of a bitch. "Right well, you guys have this who thing under control, so I'm just gonna go talk to her for a bit. Holler if you need us." Then he turned around moving a few feet away from them, just making sure to obscure the two of them from the rest of their allies.

He put her on her feet, and as soon as he did, she pushed him as hard as she could. "What the fuck, Cato? Why did you stop me?"

"Dammit Clove, keep your voice down!" Cato said, hushing her. He went on to say, "And the reason I didn't let you kill him is because he's got something we want!" Cato said, making sure to keep his voice quiet enough that the others wouldn't hear; or more specifically, so that Lover Boy wouldn't hear him.

"Oh please," Clove scoffed, but kept her voice quieter. "What on earth could he have that we would want?"

Cato put his hands on her shoulders. "Information." He breathed and suddenly she looked less angry. "More specifically, information on your favorite competitor."

Clove's eyes lit up. "Katniss." She said, spitting the girls name like a curse. Suddenly it dawned on her, and she understood.

"Exactly. Now, can I trust you not to slit his throat when we go back there?" Cato asked.

"Fine, I won't kill him yet." She said. "But the minute he becomes more trouble then he's worth, we get rid of him." Then as an afterthought, she added, "Well let me rephrase that; I get to get rid of him."

"Deal." Cato said, and turned to go back to the others.

"Um, Cato, aren't you forgetting something?" Clove said, crossing her arms over her chest. Cato looked back at her with confusion. "My knife?" She said, raising an eyebrow, holding out her hand.

"Right." He said. He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it back to her.

She slid it back into it's rightful place on the black vest. "If you keep making a habit of this, I'm gonna have to start cutting you more often." Clove said with irritation, stalking ahead of him.

"Of course you will, because things can't ever just be easy with you." Cato said under his breath as he followed her back to the group.

They rejoined their fellow Careers, which now included Lover Boy. Clove breezed right past him, ignoring his presence for the most part. Tara had done a good job with him, but he was still pretty damaged. Clove had done a number on him for sure.

They kept moving, trying to find other tributes to dispose of. Clove was clearly unsatisfied since she had basically been cheated out of a kill, so Cato was hoping some idiot would trip up and do something stupid so that they could kill someone. Then maybe she would stop ignoring Cato.

Instead of standing at the front of the pack with Cato, she was back a few feet, walking with Marvel. This pissed Cato off to no end. So when Glimmer bounded up to him, flirting and flattering him, he gladly welcomed the attention. Lover Boy, for the most part, stayed nearer to Tara. She was the least volatile of all of them, and he was smart to realize that she was the least likely of all of them to attack him. Tara found a different set of footprints, a smaller one by the look of the print, and Lover Boy stayed at her heels. Tara would tell Cato which direction to move in based on the footprints.

After over an hour Clove was starting to get tired of Cato's antics; and Glimmer's laugh. She glared murderously ahead at them as the two were shamelessly flirting away. Clove forced herself to focus on Marvel in order to keep herself from murdering Cato and Glimmer on the spot. That's when Tara noticed some smoke blooming in the distance. "Look!" She said quietly, pointing at it so they all could see.

"It seems to be our lucky day." Cato said.

"Luck has nothing to do with it; whoever the tribute is, they're just a giant idiot who couldn't brave the cold for a couple more hours." Clove said, rolling her eyes.

Cato ignored her. She was only picking at his words to piss him off. "How far are we from that tribute?" Cato asked Tara.

"I'd say an hour and a half, two at the most." She said.

"Then let's get moving." Cato said, and they picked up the pace. Once they had been traveling for another hour, they all stopped talking completely to try and not scare away their pray or alert other tributes to their whereabouts.

Then, almost another hour later, as dawn began approaching, they start seeing the actual light of the fire. Clove looked to the rest of them with excitement and broke into a sprint. They all followed her.

They came into the clearing, seeing a girl by the fire, leaning against the tree. She had dozed off. That was a mistake; one that would be her last. She woke up as the rest of them hooted and hollered, coming into the clearing. Clove had pinned her down before she could escape; before she could even react really.

"Please! Please!" She's begging, tears in her eyes. "Please don't kill me! I'm begging you. Please, please, please!" She's sobbing now.

"Pleading for your life? Ugh, you're pathetic." Clove sneered.

"She's not even trying to fight back." Marvel laughed gleefully.

"Please, I'll do anything, just don't kill me!" The girl is practically screaming it at them now, but it is only met with a round of laughter from the careers.

"If you're not gonna fight back, you should at least try to die with dignity, you know." Clove said, disgusted. As the girl continued to beg for her life, she looked at Cato. "Can I kill this one? Or are we going to start taking in more strays?" She said sadistically.

Cato knew she was trying to get a rise out of him, so he chose not to react. He instead handed Glimmer a knife, "Here, you won't need a bow and arrow for this." Then he stalked toward Clove. "I'll hold her, if you want to have some fun." He said, knowing that is all he could do to get Clove to stop being mad at him for robbing her of a kill and then flirting with Glimmer.

Clove's eyes lit up at his words. "You mean it?"

"No, no, no! Please!" The girl screamed.

"Oh shut up you sniveling insect." Cato snapped finally. "Yes." He said, and Clove moved off the girl. She tried to run away but Cato grabbed her, holding her arms behind her. "But let the others get a stab in too, okay?" Cato told her and she nodded eagerly.

Clove sliced into the girl and she screamed in agony. The whole time, Lover Boy looked away, as if he would be sick if he watched. So Tara pretended to need to change his bandages to give him an excuse not to watch. She didn't necessarily understand Clove's need to torture instead of just killing. Clove's eyes were alive as she cut her a few more times. Then she moved aside for Marvel, who sliced into her stomach pretty good. He then moved over himself for Glimmer, who got a good slice on the girl's leg. The girl continued to scream. Clove got a couple more slices in, and then told Cato, "You can have the death blow if you want."

"Don't mind if I do." He said, and Glimmer handed him the knife he had handed her. He then stabbed her from behind right through the stomach. Her screaming finally stopped. He let her drop to the ground like a rag doll.

Glimmer and Marvel laughed, and Clove looked pretty content. They congratulated him on the kill. He knew they had basically killed her together, but he hadn't minded it this one time. "Twelve down and eleven to go!" Cato said with a grin. The others laughed, cheering in agreement.

"Let's check her supplies and see if she has anything useful." Tara said, and they all agreed with her. Marvel pulled open a small backpack on the ground by the fire, checking it out.

"Well let's see; there's a bottle, and some matches we can use, but for the most part she's got nothing of any use." Marvel said, pocketing the matches, discarding the bag on the ground next to her body.

"Well then I guess there's no reason to stick around." Clove said with a shrug.

"Better clear out so they can get the body before it starts stinking." Cato said, turning and walking out of the clearing. Glimmer was on his heels and then the rest of them followed.

About ten yards away, Cato stops. So do the rest of them, looking at him. "Have you heard anything yet?"

They all shook their heads. "No..." Clove said, catching on to what Cato meant. "That's odd..."

Glimmer spoke aloud what they were all thinking. "Shouldn't we have heard a cannon by now?"

"I'd say yes." Marvel chimed in. "Nothing to prevent them from going in immediately."

"Unless she isn't dead." Tara said cautiously.

"She's dead." Cato said with certainty. "I stuck her myself."

"Then where's the cannon?" Clove demanded.

"Someone should go back." Marvel said, looking at Cato. "Make sure the job's done."

"Yeah, we don't want to have to track her down twice." Glimmer chimed in. "Tracking is so boring."

"I said she's dead!" Cato said forcefully.

"How can you be so sure?" Marvel argued.

"Yea Cato, it's not like you checked her pulse." Clove taunted.

"If I say she's dead, then she's dead dammit!"

"Your word isn't law Cato!"

"Like hell it isn't!"

"We're wasting time!" Lover Boy finally shouts, silencing them all. "I'll go finish her and let's move on!" Clove could've sworn she heard a rustling in the trees when he spoke. But she didn't see anything as she looked around, and none of the others seemed to hear it, so she dismissed it as nothing.

"Go on then, Lover Boy," Cato said. "See for yourself." Lover Boy rolled his eyes at them and then grabbed the torch from Tara, heading back to the girl who had so idiotically built the fire.

They were all silent until he went out of earshot. Clove clearly was not tolerating him as easily as Cato had hoped. "Why don't we just kill him now and get it over with?" She said.

"Let him tag along." Tara interjected. "What's the harm? And he's handy with a knife." Clove made a noise of indignation but said nothing.

"She's right, you know." Cato said, giving Clove a look. "Besides, he's our best chance of finding her."

Glimmer, Tara and Marvel suddenly seemed to get that the reason Lover Boy was alive was because they wanted information about Katniss. "Why? You think she bought into that sappy romance stuff?" Glimmer asked.

"She might have. Seemed pretty simpleminded to me. Every time I think about her spinning around in that dress, I wanna puke." Clove said darkly.

"Wish we knew how she got that eleven." Marvel said.

"Bet you Lover Boy knows." Cato said with a glint in his eyes. They heard him returning and quickly fell silent. When he came into view, Cato asked, "Was she dead?"

"No. But she is now." Lover Boy replied, and the cannon fires right after he does to confirm his words. "Ready to move on?"

Cato looks to the others and nods, "Yea. Let's head back for a little, okay? Refill on some supplies and such." The others agree and then they are heading back towards camp just as day begins to break.


	12. Chapter 12

**Dear Readers,**

**Sorry this chapter is short but it is worth the read if I do say so myself. The ending half of the chapter was inspired by (thought up by) inluv4eva. She came up with the idea, I just thought up the words! But I hope you all enjoy it! R&R!**

**-esl1852**

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They had been back at the camp all morning, getting rest (except Tara and Lover Boy, who had been staying watch). Tara and Lover Boy were resting now, and the rest of them were awake. There was some serious tension between Cato and Clove from the moment they had all woken up. Marvel knew it immediately. If Glimmer knew, she wasn't letting on that she did.

Glimmer was actually the problem, but she didn't seem to realize that either. Clove had been trying to get Cato to start formulating a plan on how to take down all the other tributes, but as soon as Glimmer had woken up she attached herself to Cato; and Cato didn't seem to mind one bit. But Clove sure did. She looked a bit more homicidal than usual as she stalked off, away from them, towards the lake.

Glimmer and Cato's flirting was annoying, Marvel had to admit it. Mostly to him because Glimmer was his best friend and he knew that Cato didn't honestly give a flying fuck about her. Cato loved Clove; of course, Cato didn't realize it himself yet, but Marvel could tell. Not that Glimmer seemed to mind; as long as he had known her, she had made a habit of picking men who were in love with other people and who didn't actually care about her. It made Marvel sick, but she did it to herself, and what could he really do? He knew nothing he could ever say would change her.

He couldn't believe how insufferable he found the two of them to be at the moment. So he sighed and stood up, walking away from them. He also couldn't believe that it was only midday, and Clove was already pissed off at Cato again. Marvel didn't know if there was ever an entire day that went by where Cato didn't do something to piss her off. Marvel walked over to where Clove was throwing knives at a tree.

He stood watching her for a few moments. He didn't think she knew he was there, but she turned her head to the side after she had thrown her last knife, saying, "You're staring."

Marvel was startled for a second, but regrouped. "I wasn't staring, I was... admiring your skill." He said with a grin.

"It's still creepy." Clove said, but Marvel caught the smirk on her face.

"And you're throwing knives at trees... so what does that make you?" Marvel joked.

"I'm practicing. So that makes me dedicated."

"Or crazy."

She threw the last knife in her hand at the tree, and then said, "Doesn't change the fact that you were creeping." Then, she went to the tree, dislodging her knives. She walked back towards him, standing face to face. "Don't you have anything better to do?" She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Sadly I don't." Clove narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay, look, it was either watch my best friend make a fool of herself by flirting shamelessly on national television, or come and spend time with you and your_ charming _personality." He explained to her. "I chose the latter."

Clove turned away from him, throwing knives some more. "She's your best friend?" Clove said in-between throws. "I didn't know that."

"Well, yea. Since we were five years old." He said with a shrug. "We were neighbors back home."

"How adorable." Clove said in a sarcastic voice.

"You know, just because she managed to get on your bad side doesn't mean she's an awful person."

She saw how irritated Marvel was with her intolerance of Glimmer, and felt bad. She actually did like Marvel. "Sorry. Reflex." She said, and then threw another knife at the tree. "Look, I get that you are tight with blondie and all, but don't expect my attitude about her to change." Marvel realized that Clove in a completely foul mood and there was no way that would change anytime sooner than her opinion of Glimmer.

"Whatever, Clove." He said, sounding suddenly tired. It wasn't rude, it was more like he had given up. He turned away from her, walking back to the others. Clove stopped throwing her knives for a few moments, watching as Marvel made a point to sit as far away from Cato and Glimmer as possible. Tara had just woken up, so he made polite conversation with her; something Clove was not very good at. Clove went back to throwing knives wordlessly.

Hours had gone by and Clove was starting to get pissed. They had not managed a single kill all day. Each of them took turns going in groups out to the forest to try and hunt tributes down, but they had not had any luck so far. By the time it went dark, Clove was starting to get really really pissed. When the anthem played and there were no faces in the sky, Clove was more than pissed. "Okay, this is bullshit. We've managed to do nothing productive. Today is the most boring day to go by in my entire life." Clove said, crossing her arms over her chest. They were all sitting by a fire, eating. Glimmer was practically on Cato's lap, and that wasn't doing anything to calm Clove's temper.

"You're exaggerating, Clove." Cato said to her, rolling his eyes.

"The sad part is, I'm really not." Clove said with no sarcasm in her voice.

"What's wrong with taking a break?" Tara asked.

"Well, you see, we're in an epic battle to the death called the Hunger Games; taking a break isn't generally budgeted into the schedule." Clove snapped at her.

"Would you relax, Clove?" Cat said. "We'll have plenty of time to kill people. We aren't going anywhere."

"Well we clearly aren't going anywhere anytime soon at this rate." Clove said, standing up.

"Oh come on Clove, if you just wait we'll go hunting in a few hours."

"I'm not waiting a few hours for you to digest your freaking food. I'm gonna get a head start. You can catch up with me later." She said, grabbing her night vision glasses, ignoring Cato and Marvel's protests.

Cato had stood up and walked away from the fire, calling after Clove as she stalked off, but to no avail. She didn't come back. _Dammit. She's so freaking impatient and stubborn._ He knew she was also a little pissed at him since he had practically ignored her all day because Glimmer was being an attention-whore. Cato suddenly realized he was not alone. "What?" Cato finally snapped at Marvel, who had walked over to him.

"You know what." Marvel gave him a pointed look. "Clove is pissed."

"As if that's anything new. Clove is always pissed."

"Don't you feel bad?"

"About what?" Cato said, still feigning dumb.

"Do you really have to ask?" Marvel said in exasperation.

"Do you really have to comment?" Cato snapped back. "Because it's really not any of your business." Then he stalked back to the fire.

Meanwhile, Clove was running through the forest at top speed. She was hoping to run in to someone, anyone. She was is desperate need to cut something, to kill something. Just when she was about to give up, go back and try to bear Cato's_ I told you so_, she saw some smoke billowing up ahead. _Aha. The cold of the night. Gets these idiots every time._ She sped toward the smoke and soon saw a light, like fire, up ahead.

Only when she had gotten too close did Clove manage to realize her mistake; the fire wasn't set by a tribute (at least not that she could tell). The fire wasn't in a small contained space. It was everywhere around her before she even really knew what was happening. The trees were up in flames around her and she had made a grave error. She was in trouble. "Shit." Clove muttered to herself. This was the work of the Gamemakers, who had probably been under scrutiny for the lack of action that had taken place in the arena the past day. I_ freaking knew nothing good could come from a boring day,_ Clove turned to head back the way she had come but the flames were spreading everywhere and to everything; and they were spreading fast. Clove could barely manage to stay ahead of it.

She stopped in a clearing to try and get her bearings. That was her second mistake. The fire had engulf all the trees around her in seconds. Clove tried to head back the way she had come, but then realized that was stupid because the fire had been behind her. She then tried to go back the way she had hoped was camp; but flames flared up from the underbrush, stopping her. She was in a ring of fire and there was no way out, unless she wanted to burn half her skin off. The smoke was getting to her head; even if she did manage to somehow escape the flames she wouldn't know which was was up and which way was down.

The smoke was stinging her eyes and invading her lungs. She held her sleeve over her mouth, coughing hard. Her lungs were on fire. She could no stand and fell to her knees gasping for air; the smoke was suffocating her and she knew she was in trouble. Clove's thoughts were getting cloudy. _So this is how it ends, huh? I never imagined my death like this. Hell I never imagined being outlived by Glimmer either._ She thought to herself, losing her balance and falling backwards, staring up into the gray abyss of smoke.

Suddenly Clove heard voices and believed she was actually starting to hallucinate. But she realized it was no hallucination; she recognized that it was Cato and Marvel screaming her name, screaming for her to respond, trying to figure out where she was. She tried to croak out words but barely any sound came out. "I'm here!" She tried to yell, but her throat was so hoarse it was a pitiful sound. She tried again, and again.

"I see her!" Someone yelled, a girl voice. Then whoever it was cried out in pain. Clove felt herself getting fuzzy, but she clung to consciousness as hard as she could. "Go, get her back to Tara! I'll save Clove."

"Wait, you can't; you'll get burned-"

"To hell with that!" Someone roared, and then someone burst through the flames, looking like an vengeful angel bursting through the gates of hell. Cato.

He wasted no time, pulling her off the ground into his arms. She felt how limp she was and she could hear the panic in his voice as he whispered, "Don't be dead. Don't be dead. _Please_ don't be dead." She heard someone whispering in her ear.

Once outside of the flames and far enough away that the air was fresh and not full of smoke, Cato still held her in his arms, but the world shift, and Clove thought he had shrunk; then she realized how ridiculous that was and realized he probably had sat down. He was still whispering to her, "Don't be dead. You can't be dead." Then he pressed his fingers into the side of her neck gently. He felt the light thrumming there. He let out a breath of relief. She still had a pulse which meant she was still alive. He was so happy she was alive that, without even thinking about it (or that all of Panem was watching), he pressed his lips against hers. It was simple enough of a gesture, but then he realized that the Capitol idiots would probably take it out of proportion. Well not really, but he didn't want them knowing about it.

He almost jumped when she stirred in his hands because he had not been expecting it. "Water." She croaked. He grabbed water from his pack immediately. He sat her up a little and helped her to drink a little.

After a few moments, she opened her eyes. It was barely, but it was to look at him. "I would say that you're weak for coming after me..." Clove said. "but then again I'm the one who can't drink on her own." Even on the brink of death, Clove stayed true to form.

"Dammit Clove." Cato said under his breath. He wanted to slap the crap out of her for making him think she was dead. "I though you were..." He didn't finish the sentence.

"I'm not." She said soberly. "Although I don't see why you would care." Unbelievable. He saves her from death and she's still miffed he was flirting with Glimmer.

"I can't win with you, can I?"

"I honestly don't know why you even try." She smirked weakly.

"Isn't it obvious?" He said, and she looked like she had no answer for him. "I care about you Clove."

"You have a great way of showing it." She said sarcastically.

"Because saving you when I could've left you for dead doesn't show it?" He said in frustration. "I didn't even give a shit that Glimmer burned herself; I just needed to get to you." She didn't respond, so he continued. "Honestly, I don't care how long it takes for you to get it; I care about you. And if I have to choose between anyone else and you, I will always choose you."

"I really did think I was going to die you know. It was weird, I though I would be ready for death, but I wasn't ready to die. Not yet. But I felt it coming, you know." She finally said, going off on her own tangent. Cato did not mention that he wasn't ready for her to die yet either. He didn't want her to call him weak again, but then again he wasn't really sure what she would say because she was still extremely fuzzy from the smoke. "Before you ran through that wall of fire like an idiot."

"I'm still the idiot who saved your life." He shot back and then sighed. He brushed her hair out of her face, she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. "How bout this, Clove? As long as I'm around, I won't let you die." He told her. "You will not die if you are in my hands. I promise. Deal?"

He wasn't sure if she was still conscious, so he stood, and started carrying her back to their camp. Thats when she croaked out, "Deal." He allowed himself a small smile, but then he heard her say, "Oh, wipe that smirk off your face."

"Of course. Anything you want, oh royal pain in my ass."


	13. Chapter 13

**Dear Readers,**

**Thanks so much for all of your reviews! I really appreciate all of them.**

**De Fideli: Thank you for the compliments! I'm glad you like the fic :) I def think Marvel/Clove friendship is necessary and interesting, and I'm glad it is perceived the way I wanted it to be!**

**biaSmalfoy: I'm glad you like it so much! and i don't want them to die but I'm trying to keep it as believable and close to the storyline of the actual book as possible... idk we will see! I'll see what I can do.**

**once and future: Thanks so much! I did my best, so I'm glad you enjoy it :)**

**followsrabbit: Thank you so much! I try really hard to stay true to their personalities :) I'm glad you enjoyed the dialogue! **

**: Thanks so much! You don't know how much it means to me to hear that! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!**

**Also, thanks to inluv4eva for reading my constant messages about how uncertain I am about ever paragraph of the story! Thanks so much for all of your reviews and input :) you are the best!**

**Now I hope you all enjoy this chapter; please R&R, and thanks to all of those who do! I love you all**

**-esl1852**

* * *

Tara really was a miracle worker when it came to healing people. Glimmer's burn had been healed by the time the sun had risen. She had managed to make a salve with a bunch of plants from the forest.

Clove took a little longer to get better; she had been sleeping since Cato had carried her back to their camp. Tara had woken her up once to test her breathing, and to make her drink some water to make the burning in her throat subside. Clove immediately fell asleep once Tara was finished. From then on, Cato did not separate from her; any change in her health and he had Tara in a heartbeat awake to take care of it and make sure it wasn't serious. Even though she was already healed, Glimmer was actually the most surly of all of them; mostly because Cato was ignoring her. He was so focused on Clove (considering she had just almost died), that Glimmer wasn't getting any attention. And that was something Glimmer was not used to.

Cato stayed by Clove's side while she slept. All the others were lost on him; he was focused on Clove and only on her. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been the past few days; almost losing Clove made him realize how idiotic he had been. Flirting with Glimmer to piss her off was stupid and messed up. He didn't want to waste any more time on stupid people that meant nothing to him. Especially when he accounted for the fact the Clove could die at any moment. He had forgotten when they started the games how little time with her he actually had left; they could have days, or hours. And Cato wanted every last second with Clove before their time ran out. He didn't want to regret anything if either one of them died. And he definitely didn't want her dying thinking he didn't care about her. He couldn't believe how close that had actually come to happening; when he rescued her from the fire, she was still under the pretense (however crazy it was) that he didn't give a shit about her. He didn't want her to think that ever.

He sighed, staring down at her sleeping form. Clove slept curled up in a little ball; she looked even tinier than normal. He could tell she wasn't having any nightmares by how still she was, which made Cato happy. When she slept, Clove looked like a little china doll in his opinion. It was also the only time he ever saw Clove looking anything but fierce; the only time he saw her looking vulnerable. She looked fragile, dainty almost. He realized as he watched her while she slept, that despite Clove's spitfire personality and her insistence that she didn't need his help, she actually was quite breakable. However, Cato would never dare say any of those things to her when she was awake, or she might cut him.

Cato brushed a stray hair out of her face, and she didn't even stir. He realized that without her, like when he thought she had died after the Gamemakers' forest fire, that he felt lost. It was like he no longer had a center of gravity; his insanity no longer lurked in the shadows, but began pressing into the forefront of her mind. Without her there, he didn't even feel himself. He wasn't sure when she became that important, but he knew he was stuck. Without her, he would lose his mind. But if she lived, he died. He had caught himself in quite a dilemma; although, after Clove's near-death encounter, he knew if he was faced with killing her (as weak as it made him) that he could never actually do it. He felt like she would be able to kill him though; but maybe he wasn't giving her enough credit. Maybe she wouldn't. Either way he returned to the realization he had made when she had been reaped for the games this year; they were tangled up in a huge mess; a mess that he didn't see any clear way out of.

He knew he should hope someone else would kill her so it didn't come down to the two of them; that's how a career should and would think. But he couldn't bring himself to think that. He couldn't help but think that it was Clove's fault; she made him weak. But the thought of losing her made him crazy. His thoughts had gotten so muddled at this point he didn't know what to think. He only had two definite thoughts in his head; he did not want Clove to die, and he wanted to win the Hunger Games. The only problem is he could only have one or the other; there was no way to have both. He wanted to throw another temper tantrum, scream, break things, hurt people; but he knew that she would only call him weak if he did and that it would only serve to make him look like an immature child. He hated Clove for how she made him feel, but he could never see himself without her. That in itself was a problem.

Marvel was watching Cato watch Clove; he couldn't believe how serious Cato was being about her. Cato stared at Clove like she was the only other person on the planet. That's when Marvel realized something; Cato loved her. Cato didn't even know it yet, but Marvel did. Just then, Marvel felt someone's arms slide onto his shoulders. Two, small, delicate, ivory hands slid into his view. One hand was wrapped in gauze. He slid his hands up her arms knowing it was Glimmer; no one else here was familiar enough with him to assume such an intimate position. He was happy she was here in a way because she reminded him of home. But deep down, even though Glimmer could be a fierce competitor if she put her mind to it, he knew she didn't belong here. Her focus on flirting with Cato rather than winning the games proved that in Marvel's opinion. "Can I help you?" Marvel asked.

She sighed, and he felt her rest her chin on the top of his head. "I'm bored." She said for the first time since the games had begun.

"Then entertain yourself." He suggested.

"But how? There's nothing to do and everyone is busy with Clove."

She almost died and now she's unconscious, Glimmer."

"Exactly! She's not even that interesting right now!"

Marvel rolled his eyes. "I have no sympathy for you, Glimmer."

"What? Why not?" Glimmer exclaimed, pulling her arms back, standing up. He turned around to look at her; Glimmer was immature in some ways. She currently had her arms crossed and was pouting like a little girl.

"Because, the only reason you're bored is that you aren't getting the attention you want and think you deserve." Marvel said pointedly. He loved Glimmer, but he wanted her to get real and understand that if she didn't start taking things seriously, she would end up dead.

"Actually, I'm not getting any attention at all." Glimmer said, a sour tone in her voice.

"Glimmer, I do love you and all," Marvel said in exasperation, "but it's not all about you and your whims sometimes."

"Ugh, when did you get so serious, Marvel?" She said, twirling a piece of hair around her finger.

"Right about the time your hormones went crazy and I started having to think for the both of us." He said harshly, but she didn't look like his words had gotten through to her at all, so he added, "Or did you forget that your inability to control yourself is what got you into this mess in the first place?" That got her attention; he saw she looked hurt by her words, and felt a little bad. Glimmer was in no way dumb, but she did act like it; she'd done enough stupid things that harmed her more than helping her. She wasn't even supposed to be in the games. Glimmer had unfortunately pissed off the 17-year-old District 1 Tribute who was going to volunteer by sleeping with her boyfriend... so the girl didn't volunteer when Glimmer got called out of spite. Glimmer was lusty, and that was ultimately her biggest downfall. By the look on his face, Marvel could tell she clearly mad at him. And of course, even though he was right, he still felt like a dick.

Before he could apologize though, he heard Cato exclaim, "Tara, you're a genius!"

Marvel and Glimmer looked over at Cato and saw Clove was propped up on her elbows. "So what did I miss?" She said with a smirk, finally waking after what had seemed like forever.

Glimmer let out an irritated sigh. "Nothing. The whole day has been about as exciting as mud." She said, stalking over to her sleeping bag before Marvel could say anything.

Clove rose her eyebrows. "What's wrong with bimbo barbie?" She asked, looking at Marvel. Then she smirked, saying, "Did you tell her she actually needed a brain to win the games?"

Marvel just shook his head. "Don't start with me right now, Clove."

Clove rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I honestly don't care what kind of trouble is going on in bestie paradise." Marvel gave her a look and she added quickly, "No offense, I just want to go hunting." For someone who had almost died, she sure bounced back fast. Marvel cared about her and all, but he kinda wished she was still unconscious at the moment.

Cato looked alarmed at her words. "Now Clove, I don't think that's such a good idea in your condition-"

"_In my condition_?" She said incredulously. "Cato, you said it yourself, Tara is a genius! I'm completely healed!" She said, standing up. "Watch, I'll prove it!" She ran at the cornucopia before Cato could stop her, doing a little backflip off of the side of it. "See?" She said, but Marvel could tell that it had taken something out of her to do it. Cato noticed too.

"We are only going hunting if we _all _go." When it dawned on Clove what he meant, she gave him the look of a toddler about to have a temper tantrum. "Yes, Clove, even Glimmer."

"But... Glimmer sucks!" Clove said, not loud enough for Glimmer to hear.

"Well either we all go or none of us go. I want to make sure nothing happens to you just because you're a little... off your game."

"I'm not off my game, Cato!" She snarled at him.

"I stand by what I said." Cato said, crossing his arms. "We both know I'm strong enough to subdue you, even if it's only for a little while."

Finally, Clove let out a little huff, stomping over to Marvel. "Go kiss and make up with blondie or I'll have to knock both of your heads together!" Clove said impatiently.

"Well don't be too sweet about it, now." Marvel said with sarcasm, but stood up, moving towards Glimmer, glad that he had an excuse to go make up with her.

"Would you just do it?" Clove said impatiently. "I've got an idea that might actually help us catch other tributes. Maybe even the girl on fire." She said with her eyes gleaming. At the mention of Katniss, Peeta seemed to suddenly be more alert and actually paying attention to them. Marvel knew the kid just wanted to find the girl; he also knew Clove was a lot smarter than most people he had ever met, so he knew that this plan could be a surefire thing. He got a little excited by the idea of getting a hold of another tribute today, and he was that much more motivated to coax Glimmer into hunting. Hunting aside, he did actually want to apologize to Glimmer.

"Hey." He said as he walked up to her. "I'm sorry I was mean."

Glimmer nodded, seeming to accept his apology. "It's ok."

"You wanna do something fun and go hunting?"

She smiled grabbing her bow and arrow. "Do I ever!" She exclaimed, and they rejoined the rest of their fellow Careers.

Clove explained to the others that she was pretty sure the reason the Gamemakers set the forest on fire was to drive tributes together so that there would be some sort of action. Hopefully, Katniss had also been caught up in the flames and forced in the direction that the Gamemakers had wanted her to go. Which meant that if the Careers just followed along the edge of where the fire had been burned, then they were bound to run into another tribute; hopefully it would be the one they wanted to run into. It was a simple enough plan, but it was pretty smart that Clove had managed to think it up and almost read the minds of the Gamemakers.

They were off before Cato could try and get Clove to stay behind and rest. They moved quickly through the forest, the only sound was their footsteps. They found themselves walking along a stream at one point. They didn't have to go far before they heard a splashing up ahead.

"Someone's close!" Clove rasped, her voice not yet back to it's usual sharpness after being caught i the fire. She was also not as fast, which as a result, slowed the rest of the pack down a bit; hell, after having inhaled all the smoke, none of the Careers were 100%.

They saw her disappearing out of small pool that came into view, and Clove realized with excitement that it was in fact, exactly who they were looking for. When they finally catch up to her, she's already climbed 2o feet up into a very tall tree. She definitely doesn't look too good, but still she was not going to be easy prey; but that was something Clove hoped for.

Clove grins, feeling they've at least cornered her; soon they would have her completely caught. "We've got her now." Clove said with a smirk on her face.

"Thanks to you; good job, Clove." Cato's face mirrored her own, and it made Clove almost giddy that Cato actually gave her credit; it was not a common occurrence.

"Now how are we gonna get her?" Marvel said, mostly to himself under his breath.

Katniss seemed to think the same thing as Marvel at that moment, because she smiles (she actually smiles!) down at them. "How's everything with you?" She calls down to them cheerfully.

Clove almost fell over at her words; was this girl for real? She could tell by the looks on the other Careers faces that they were thinking the same thing.

Cato regroups the first, and calls up to her, "Well enough. Yourself?" Clove was happy Cato was able to still seem charming ,because the sponsors were probably eating up his exchange with Katniss. Clove wouldn't be able to do it; she kind of wanted to just throw a knife and end this thing now. But Cato seemed to want to do this his way. So she let him; mostly because she wasn't up to climbing trees and she was still out of breath from running after Katniss and she didn't want Cato to know that.

"It's a bit warm for my taste." Katniss says, and Clove really wants to hit her now. For someone who was trapped with no place to go, she sure was cocky. "The air's better up here, why don't you come on up?" She was either really cocky or just plain stupid; or she had a death wish.

While Clove was just getting irritated, Cato seemed to be amused by the girls antics. "Think I will." He says as he smirks up at her.

"Here, take this, Cato." Glimmer says, holding out the bow and arrows for Cato to take up with him. Clove noticed that Katniss was trying to make eye contact with lover boy, but he was pretending to polish his knife with the edge of his shirt.

"No." Cato said to Glimmer, pushing the bow away, leaving Glimmer to pout. "I'll do better with my sword." He said.

Cato starts climbing the tree, and like a squirrel, Katniss scurries up the tree even higher. If Clove wasn't so bent on killing her, she would've been impressed.

"Come on Cato!" Clove starts calling up to him with the others, encouraging him. Lover Boy silently watches. "Kill her!"

Suddenly, Cato reaches up and grabs a branch that cracks under his weight, and then he's falling. He hits the ground with a loud thump, grunting on impact. He doesn't seem too hurt though, more angry at being shown up by Katniss again. "Mother fucker! Dammit, dammit, dammit!" He shouts, throwing a temper tantrum.

Glimmer, hoping to gain Cato's favor back, starts climbing up the tree. Once she gets to a point where the tree can no longer support her weight she stops climbing. She tries to shoot her with the bow and arrow and misses; it get lodges in the tree near her. Clove would never understand why Glimmer, who was so obviously incompetent with the bow and arrow, insisted on taking the bow and arrows as her weapon of choice. Katniss retrieves the arrow and waves it teasingly above her head; Glimmer came back down the tree looking ashamed and embarrassed.

Clove was pretty angry at this point. "Okay enough of this bullshit; I'm going to climb up there and bring her ass down." She snaps, moving for the tree.

"No, Clove." Cato argued, grabbing her by the arm.

"Oh, come _on,_ Cato. I'm the only one small enough to get up there."

"But you are also the least healthy out of all of us right now; I don't want you killing yourself to get to her."

"Well we can't just do nothing and let her to continue to make a fool out of us!" Clove snaps back.

"We have to think of something." Marvel says, obviously agreeing with her. "It's going to be dark soon."

"But what are we gonna do; she's out of firing range and none of us can get to her." Tara said.

"Oh, let her stay up there." Lover Boy says harshly, clearly sick of their arguing. "It's not like she's going anywhere. We'll deal with her in the morning."

Cato glares at him for trying to call the shots, and the rest of the Careers just wait for Cato to say something. "Somebody get some wood to make a fire." He said finally, storming angrily away from the tree to get his emotions under control. Clove would've followed, but Glimmer bounded after him, hoping to get some sort of attention. Clove and Marvel broke off, collecting some wood for a fire.

Later that night, Clove had laid out all her knives in front of her. She was using them to kill little animals off away from the rest of the group because she couldn't take Glimmer being all over Cato. Cato literally had disentangled himself from her and moved Glimmer away from himself, and she still kept coming back. Cato was clearly no longer tolerating Glimmer's shameless flirting, but Glimmer was, well, shameless. So instead of murdering Glimmer, Clove chose to ignore her.

"Can I sit here?" She looked up and saw Glimmer, _of freaking course_, standing unsurely a few feet away from her.

"I would honestly rather it if you didn't." The words had fallen out of her mouth before Clove could stop herself.

Glimmer looked like she expected it and sat down next to Clove anyways. Clove was sure Glimmer had some sort of death wish. Clove continued chucking her knives; currently she was throwing them at a tree.

Suddenly, Glimmer spoke. "You know, I may seem like a complete idiot, but I get it."

Clove bit back her sarcasm, because clearly Glimmer had something she wanted to say to Clove. She knew this because Glimmer had never specifically sought Clove out, nor had she ever attempted to strike up a conversation with just Clove before. So Clove took the bait. "What do you get, Glimmer?" She said to her condescendingly.

"Why you hate me." Clove froze, stopping mid-throw. "Hell, if I were you, I would hate me too." Clove looked at her with disbelief. "I see the way he looks at you; the way you two look at each other. I would have to be a full-fledged retard not to see it now..."

"Oh." Was all Clove said. She didn't want to confirm nor deny for the rest of Panem, and she was sure Glimmer already kind of knew so she didn't see the point in disagreeing or agreeing with her.

Glimmer then got up, saying, "That's all I had to say." Then she walked back over to the rest of the Careers. Clove found herself gravitating back to the others after that, realizing that Glimmer had stopped throwing herself at Cato. Glimmer instead was chatting with Marvel, and Clove took the opportunity to sit down next to Cato, who looked pleasantly surprised that she had rejoined the group.

Clove suddenly realized just how tired she was; she really was not back to herself yet after the incident with the Gamemakers fire. As if reading her mind, Cato started divvying up shifts of who would keep watch. Glimmer surprisingly volunteered, but no one objected because they were all really tired. Clove fell asleep next to Cato without any effort, feeling comfortable having his arms slung over her waist. She knew it was only temporary, but she was happy for every perfect second of it. As much as she hated admitting it, there was only so much time she had left with him; and she wanted to make sure not to waste a second of that precious time.


	14. Chapter 14

**Dear Readers,**

**Sorry it took so long for me to update this time. I've been super busy! But I hope you all find this chapter to be worth the wait!**

**ALSO; AND THIS IS IMPORTANT! I might be adding a little Clove/Marvel (but more of an accidental clove/marvel scene) and jealous cato (with no reason to be jealous because Clove and Marvel are just friends who possibly get caught in a moment). Soooo my question to you all is; if I were to add in an accidental kiss between Marvel and Clove (because Marvel is so grief-stricken over Glimmer), and neither of them meant for it to happen and they don't like each other like that, it was just an accident, then what would you all have to say to that? Would you like it? Would you absolutely hate me? What would your reaction be? Please R&R about this idea so I can decide which road to take. And PM if any of you want to or if you have any helpful suggestions, creative criticisms, or ideas you think I should hear!**

**As always; thank you for your reviews! You guys are awesome! Keep it up with the reviews and feedback, it really keeps me going and reminds me that people are _actually_ reading my story!**

**To;**

** : Thank you so much! You have no idea how good that makes me feel to hear you say that :)**

**DianaLover18: I love that you are so obsessed with this fic; I'm pretty obsessed with their characters! And I know, I wish they wouldn't die... people keep reviewing for me to go away from the storyline and keep them alive... I'm having such a writer's delimma! Keep them alive or follow the storyline... decisions decisions!**

**followsrabbit: Thanks! I'm so glad you didn't hate it! And it makes me very happy to hear you say how well written that scene is. Thanks so much!**

**Now, without further ado, here is the next chapter! R&R and enjoy!**

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The sky begins to brighten a bit, and Clove knew she should open her eyes and wake up. But laying in Cato's arms always had a calming affect on her, and she felt like she had just fallen asleep 5 minutes. Plus, she still wasn't feeling all too great, so she allowed herself to just lay in the warmth of Cato's arms.

Suddenly, there is a huge crashing sound and a loud, ear-shattering buzzing sound. An angry buzzing sound. Clove's eyes flew open, and what she saw was pandemonium. There was a smashed nest and maybe hundreds of tracker jackers. _Shit._

Clove shot up in a heartbeat, not thinking about anything but getting out of there. She felt Cato's hand on her back, pushing her forward, telling her not to wait for him, just to run. She felt a shooting pain in her leg and then her arm as she darted away. She could outrun most of them, but she knew a few tracker jackers had already made their mark on her. She twisted her head around to look for Cato; he was right behind her. Marvel and Peeta were not far behind. She did not see Tara, nor did she see Glimmer. Clove wasn't sure what to think of the other girls absence, but when she heard blood-curdling screams (Glimmer's most likely), Clove couldn't help but shiver. She was screaming and begging the others to come back. Even if Clove wanted to, she knew they couldn't go back for her. Glimmer, if unable to evade the tracker jackers, would in fact be dead. If the rest of the Careers didn't get out of there, they would be too.

"To the lake! To the lake!" Marvel shouted at them. Clove was speeding ahead, running as fast as she could now. Marvel was right, they had to make it to the lake; that was most likely the only way to evade the tracker jackers now.

Clove couldn't help but notice the screams had stopped, and all was silent. And that freaked her the hell out. They heard a yell, a male one, and saw a slight boy (from District 3, Clove remembered), dashing after them. She guessed the tracker jackers following them had flushed him out too.

But Clove didn't have time to worry about the insignificant District 3 tribute. As they burst into the main clearing of the arena, Clove was focused on one thing; getting into the lake. She already felt the tracker jacker venom coursing through her, distorting the world in front of her. She forced herself to keep moving, and splashed, face first, into the lake. The others eventually crashed into the lake after her.

Once they had stayed under for long enough, the tracker jackers had gotten confused, unable to find what they perceived as their enemy, and retreated back into the forest. Clove felt dizzy as she crawled out of the lake. The Careers, while still mindful enough, turned on the District 3 boy immeadiately. Cato, who seemed to be angrier than ever (most likely the venom was feeding his paranoia and temper) started screaming at the District 3 boy. "Why shouldn't I kill you right here and now, huh? Give me one good reason!"

He looked fearful for his life, this small, dark-haired boy. "I, I, um..."

"Tick tock." Clove taunted.

He looked over at their supplies, then the platforms, and his eyes lit up. "I can help protect your supplies even better. I can reactivate the platform bombs."

Cato and Clove exchanged a look. "Now that, is something we can make use of. Get to work."

Marvel was watching the forest, hoping to see Glimmer come bounding out at any moment. Clove knew better. She also knew that the venom was starting to make her hallucinate, and the trees were turning into ugly, foreboding creatures. A few seconds later, a cannon fires. Clove could see the pain on Marvel's face as he sank to his knees. Only when the second cannon fired, signifying that both Glimmer and Tara were dead, did Cato get really angry.

He started charging towards the woods, screaming about her making a fool of them couldn't be tolerated anymore. Lover Boy tried to stop him, only causing Cato's anger to peak. Lover Boy, realizing he couldn't reason with Cato, made a break for the woods. Cato followed, running after him into the woods, screaming curses at Lover Boy and Katniss. Clove called for him to come back, but he didn't.

Clove sat down, feeling the world spinning around her. The venom was taking it's toll on her now. She felt the world shifting, seeing bugs bursting from Marvel's eyes, mouth and nose beside her. She jammed her eyes shut, forcing away the nausea that the venom was causing. She also reminded herself that she had been through worse in her nightmares. After what felt like hours (but was most likely only a couple of minutes), Cato came into Clove's sight, still cursing and angry. There was blood on his sword, and Clove hoped briefly that it wasn't her imagination, and hoped that he had killed Katniss. As Cato collapsed on the ground beside her, she finally just let the hallucinations take her. She didn't try and fight them; she knew it was easier that way.

When she started to come too, Clove concluded that Marvel was inconsolable and unreachable. Plus it didn't help that he was still having hallucinations. Clove started to feel like she really did have an edge; her own insanity helped her to accept the horrors of the arena easier than most. Especially hallucinations. She had experienced many before. When they weren't hallucinations, they were realistic, hellish nightmares from which she could not escape.

Clove recovered much quicker than the rest; probably because she was the fastest and was able to get away from the tracker jackers faster than the others. The fewer the stings, the less venom, the lesser the effects. Her stings still hurt, but she was not much worse for the wear than when she first stepped foot into the arena.

She was not a very motherly person, but she did look over the boys to make sure neither were going to meet the same fate as Tara and Glimmer.

The second day, Cato was getting better too. Clove hugged him tightly when he said her name; he finally seemed to see her. She thanked the lord at least one of the guys was back in reality, because the District 3 boy was boring as dirt. Her happiness was short-lived. Not only was Cato as surly as ever, he did not support her plan to go flush Katniss out considering she was probably stung pretty bad by the tracker jackers herself.

"But we can take her out now while she's weak!" Clove said for what felt like the fifteenth time.

"Clove, you're acting foolish." He said, turning around to look over at Marvel, who was still out of commission. Clove suspected it wasn't just the tracker jacker venom that was keeping him out of reality at this point. At any rate, Cato was being super frustrating, and Clove made a face at him right before he turned around to look at her. "You're as impatient as ever, and while you know I admire that single-mindedness, it's reckless. We don't know where she is, Marvel's still in la la land, and there are other tributes lurking."

"None of those other tributes could hold a candle to us!" She argued. "We could kill her and anyone else easy!"

"Yes, but charging into the woods screaming her name isn't gonna help us."

"Coming from the guy who literally _just_ did that two days ago." She said, crossing her arms. True he had been under tracker jacker venom influence, and he did cut lover boy pretty bad, but still. He was being a huge annoyance to her right now. She had been waiting for the boys to recover for what felt like forever and now that Cato was back he still didn't think action was a good idea yet. But all she wanted to do was kill something. Cato was coming close to being that something if he wasn't careful.

He chose to ignore her comment. "Clove, don't freak, we'll slaughter her soon."

"Well I'd rather it be sooner than later." Clove said, stalking towards the woods. "Besides, I don't _need_ your help. At this rate if I wait for things to go your way, I won't get to enjoy killing her at all."

"What do you know, not only are you still impatient, but you're still stubborn too! You haven't changed a bit." Cato said with a smirk. Clove kept moving but flipped him the bird over her shoulder. "Oh, such a charming, lady-like gesture!" Cato called to her, rolling his eyes as she disappeared into the trees.

"You're not gonna let her just go off on her own are you?" Cato turned around and saw that Marvel had finally come around and was able to be present in the real world.

"Ah, he speaks." Cato said, trying to be comical. Marvel didn't laugh. If Clove had been with them and not off trying to be a warrior princess, she would've laughed. Or maybe not. "Clove can take care of herself."

"You're unbelievable." Marvel said in disbelief.

"It's not like she defected from the alliance, Marvel. I know her, okay? She's just all riled up and needs a breather. She'll be back." Cato reassured him.

"But what if she runs into trouble?" Marvel asked seriously.

"Look, I would go after her, but she would just stab me to prove her point." Cato said, leveling with him.

"And what point is that?" Marvel asked condescendingly.

"That she doesn't need my help." Cato said. Right as the words came out of his mouth, there was a loud animal yell that sounded suspiciously like Clove. "Did you hear-" It happened again, and before he could even finish his question, Marvel stood with his spear.

"Yea. We going or what?" Cato ran into the forest, thinking he could just stay at the camp instead and let Clove die. He should anyway. He didn't want it coming down to just him and her after all and if he didn't see her dead or dying he thought that maybe he could handle it. He knew immediately that what he had just thought was bullshit. She was a pain in his ass, but he couldn't let her die any more than he could kill her.

They heard her struggling and knew she was close; Marvel stopped Cato from charging after her. "Wait; whoever she's fighting was able to catch her off-guard."

Cato nodded, realizing he was right. "True; there's no other way in hell she would have ever screamed." From that point on they moved cautiously, staying hidden and peered into the clearing and saw her. Clove was netted up to a tree; someone had set a trap, and she had walked right into it. _Probably because she still wasn't 100% after the tracker jacker attack_, Cato thought to himself, _there's no other way she could've been caught off-guard like this. _

He saw her struggling to get to her knives, but when the net had wrapped around Clove and the tree, it had trapped her hands above her head. The knife she had been carrying was not in her hand anymore.

Marvel nudged Cato, pointing to another figure in the clearing. This was the first time Cato noticed anyone else was in the clearing but Clove; he had been so fixed on her he hadn't noticed the other person.

"Well, well, well." The person said, limping towards her. Cato realized it was the boy from District 10 with the bad leg; he was unmistakable. How he made it past the bloodbath on the first day, Cato would never know. "A Career tribute in my trap? Out here all alone, so far from your territory?" The boy said with a sneer. Cato noticed the glint of Clove's knife in the boy's hand. He gave Marvel a look, nodding at the knife. Marvel nodded and Cato could tell he was on the same train of thought as he was; they needed to do something and they needed to do it fast. Marvel nodded in one direction, mouthing _split up, surround, attack_ slowly. Cato nodded in agreement, and then Marvel moved soundlessly, disappearing from Cato's sight to position himself on the opposite side of the clearing.

Clove was still struggling against the net. "I'm not alone. The others are circling around and should be coming through here in a moment." Clove said with bravado. She smirked at him, looking angry and psycho and everything but scared.

"For some reason, I don't believe you." He said, surveying her, placing the knife at the tip of her chin, tilting her head up.

She shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me, it's you're funeral. They'll cut you down in a second. After all, what are you gonna do; _run away_?" Clove taunted. It was amazing to Cato how even in the face of death Clove managed to still taunt her tormentor. She didn't look scared. Which probably meant she was insane (which she was) or that she didn't think she was going to die yet; Cato figured it was a little bit of both.

Clove struck a nerve with the kid, clearly. He pulled back from her and then punched her in the gut hard at her words. Cato had to hold himself back; he wanted to kill the kid but it wasn't the right time yet. Marvel probably wasn't even in place yet. Cato bit the inside of his cheek roughly, and soon he had the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. It took her a second, but Clove was used to taking hits from Cato in training; the boys punch must not have had as much force as he had hoped because Clove recovered fairly quickly. "Oh ouch. Really? You punch like a little girl. The District 11 girl could probably do more damage than you."

"Oh ha ha ha. You think you are so funny, don't you?"

"Who, me?" Clove smirked deeper. "I personally think I'm hilarious." Cato realized, while he did know Clove loved herself and thought she was hilarious and awesome, that she wasn't taunting him without good reason. She was following her survival instincts; because as long as she kept this kid talking, she was still alive.

"You career tributes are so arrogant." He put the knife to her throat.

"Well I don't know about arrogant... I mean, it's not necessarily arrogance if you actually are this great. I'd say I'm just... _embracing my awesomeness_." Clove said, looking quite amused.

"Shut up!" He shouted at her. "No more talking!" He continued. "Time to die." Cato saw Marvel stand across the clearing from himself; the district 10 tribute was so enthralled with Clove that he didn't notice.

"Well, what are you waiting for? DO IT!" Clove shouted. "Stop stalling and just stab me already." Clove said, an insane glint in her eyes. She was goading the kid, calling his bluff; she obviously thought he didn't really have it in him. After all he hadn't even killed anyone yet.

Marvel nodded his head and Cato stood as well, drawing his sword just as the district 10 kid said, "I am most definitely going to enjoy this." He said, lifting Clove's blade above his head. She was so focused on the blade she hadn't even seen the boys.

Both Cato and Marvel charged at the boy, each of them grabbing an arm, slamming him down to the ground. "Wha-I-how did you-"

"You should've listened when she said she wasn't alone." Cato said, and then he looked over his shoulder at Clove, who looked pretty surprised to see them herself. Their eyes met and he knew she was mad he had come to save her, but he was just glad she was still alive.

"He's right you know." Marvel said, staring down at the boy with a hard look. He looked up at both of them in complete terror and shock. "You should've beat it when you had the chance." Marvel looked over at Cato. "Go help Clove. I got this." He said, almost as if he was reading Cato's mind.

Cato snapped his attention from Clove to Marvel. "You sure?"

Marvel gave him a look, saying. "He's a cripple. It's not like he'll be hard to kill." The kid looked furious at his words, but Marvel was right. Cato also remembered Glimmer's recent death, and he realized if it had been Clove who had just died, he'd be looking to take his anger out on someone too. Cato grabbed Clove's knife off of the ground and stood, turning to Clove.

Cato looked at her in her eyes, saying her name softly. She looked as if she had been pissed at him, but her eyes softened. He started cutting the net to release her.

Behind him, Cato heard Marvel say, "I guess it's just you and me now." The kid tried to fight, but a split second later, Cato heard Marvel drive the spear into him and then the kid wasn't struggling anymore. Then, a cannon fired, signifying that the boy from District 10 was dead. Clove was free from the net a second later.

"Are you okay?" Marvel asked Clove, pulling his spear out of the kid as he stood.

"I'm fine." She said stiffly.

"Oh stop being pissy." Cato said and then he grabbed her and held her tightly. "Can't you ever just be happy to see me?"

"I would be if it weren't for the fact that I didn't need your help, Cato!" She said angrily, pushing him away. "I had it under control!"

"Under control?" Cato yelled at her in disbelief. "He was seconds away from plunging a knife into your heart Clove!"

"Oh please. He wasn't actually gonna kill me. He was a coward." Clove snorted a laugh.

Cato exchanged a look with Marvel and then said, "You're delusional."

"Yea, I'm with Cato on this one." Marvel said. "Besides, having people who will have your back if you need help isn't a bad thing, Clove."

"Well the only problem with that is that I don't need help!" Clove spat at them, turning back, stalking towards their camp.

"You say that," Cato called after her as Marvel and he caught up to her. "but we just rescued you from certain death, so..." Cato smirked.

"Shut up. I didn't ask for you to come storming in like a neanderthals." She said, crossing her arms, pouting.

"Oh come now, at least we are sexy neanderthals." Cato said, waggling his eyebrows at her as he slung an arm around her shoulders. Marvel smiled a bit, but he was not as happy as he was before Glimmer had died.

Clove tried to get out of his grasp, but Cato held her tightly. "Ugh. You smell like a neanderthal, that's for damn sure."

"Yea, and you smell like a freaking rosebush." Cato said, rolling his eyes at her.


	15. Chapter 15

**Dear Readers.**

**Sorry for taking so long! Sorority recruitment and moving in happened but I finally managed to finish another chapter! Thanks for being loyal readers! Hope it's worth the wait!**

**-esl1852**

* * *

Clove knew Marvel was still sad about Glimmer's death. He wasn't the same as he was. He didn't make any jokes, he was quiet, and seemed to be lost in thought for most of the day. Clove felt kinda bad for him. Sure she didn't like Glimmer, but she did like Marvel. She even considered him a friend. And seeing him so affected made her... uncomfortable.

It was later in the day, and Cato was with the District 3 boy, getting him to explain how the mines he had set up around the supplies to guard them worked and he was also showing him how to safely get to the supplies. Clove took this opportunity to join Marvel, who was sitting by the lake; she almost didn't see him at first because where he was sitting was obscured from most of the plain by the cornucopia.

"Hey." She said coming to sit down beside him. He nodded, acknowledging her presence, but he didn't look at her. Clove was not good at comforting people and felt even more uncomfortable that she had. "How you holding up?" She asked finally.

He shrugged. "I thought I'd be sad...and I was for a while, don't get me wrong. But now, I don't feel anything at all." He said, and then he turned his head to look at her. "And I know you are trying to be nice... something I know you don't do very often. And I appreciate it."

"Well... it sucks, losing your friend. Especially since she was someone you knew before the games. Even if it was Glimmer." Clove said, scrunching up her nose.

"I know you hated her, but Glimmer was my friend." Marvel finally said, looking towards the lake, but it was like he wasn't seeing anything at all. "And I get why you hate her; Glimmer was never good at staying away from bad boys or things that were off-limits, and she could be a little ditzy. But Glimmer in reality, not here but back home, was so much more than what you know her to be."

Clove felt extremely guilty because she didn't give a shit less that Glimmer was dead. Even when she wasn't pissing Clove off, Clove was never a fan of Glimmer. It made her feel even worse for Marvel. Because here in the games, Marvel was the only one who cared that she had died. Cato didn't even seem to care, but then again that didn't really surprise Clove too much. "Believe it or not, Marvel... I am sorry because it affected you." She stood at this point, realizing the awkward attempt to comfort him was not really going well. "However, I urge you to remember where we are. Mourning anyone will only get you so far, Marvel." Was all she could bring herself to say.

He clearly was ignoring her at this point even though they both knew she was right; he stood up as well. "We met when we were little kids." Marvel said, clearly deep in reverie of Glimmer. Clove just chose to stay silent and listen. "It was before we had started training for the games. We were five years old. She just came up to me one day with pigtails and a pink dress and said to me '_Hi. I'm Glimmer. Let's be friends okay?'"_ Clove rolled her eyes. Of course Glimmer would do that. "And I was kind of an introverted kid at the time so I just looked at her, until she said, '_Don't be shy. We're friends now. Friends don't have to be shy with friends.' _I just nodded and mumbled my name and she took my hand. By the end of the day she had me talking and not shutting up."

"You? Not shutting up? I don't believe it." Clove teased.

He allowed himself a small smile, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "It's true. She always encouraged me... always. Like when we started training, before I had ever tried my hand at throwing a spear. I felt like I sucked. She just kept telling me that _'Suck is a matter of opinion and point of view. And in my opinion, you only suck if you think you do. Do you think you suck?'_ It pissed me off, I thought it was the stupidest thing I had ever heard. But then I discovered how naturally gifted I was with a spear... and everything fell into place. She just smiled at me like she knew all along."

He sighed, looking down. "She got me. Which is weird because not only were we completely different, but we had different goals. I was training to enter in the Games; I wanted to. It was for my family, for my district; honor, glory, fame, and fortune. I wanted it; all of it. But she never cared about training, not really. Sure, she was pretty good, but she never wanted it. Not like I want it. Not like you want it." Marvel said, nodding to Clove. "Her parents encouraged her to train if she was ever selected for the Games. They wanted her to be prepared. She would've been more prepared if she had focused instead of flirting. But all Glimmer wanted was to have fun, to mess around, to love her life and everything in it. She wanted to grow up, get married, and have kids. That was all she really wanted; not this. Not the Games. Glimmer wasn't meant to be here." It was funny; Clove and Glimmer were so different, but they did have one thing in common. They both weren't meant to be here; the girls who were supposed to volunteer didn't. Sure it was for very different reasons, but still. "I always knew Glimmer wasn't a killer; not really anyways. Glimmer went along with us on all of our vendettas against 12, she even enjoyed it. She fought for her life, but Glimmer was never gonna make it in the arena. And I knew that." He said, looking glassy-eyed.

"I'm actually really sorry." Clove said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Marvel turned to look at her. "It's stupid because one of us will have had to die anyway, but I still wish she hadn't. There's no one else here who really knows me."

"Marvel..." Clove started, but trailed off, not sure what to do. This was not her strong suit.

"I'm just afraid that I'm going to lose hold of the person who I used to be." Marvel said seriously. Clove knew what he meant, probably better than he thought she did. Since they had gotten into the arena, she could feel all the parts of herself that Cato had brought out already slipping away; the good parts of her anyway. But it wasn't too late for Marvel. She could tell.

"You're a good person, Marvel. I know you are; mostly because I know for a fact that I am not." He looked her in the eyes, and before she even knew what was happening, Marvel had grabbed her by the neck and pulled her into a kiss. Clove was shocked at first. But his touch was so gentle and so intoxicating... Cato had never kissed her this way before. _Cato._ Clove's eyes flew open as soon as she realized what was going on.

She pulled back from him, turning away from Marvel. She couldn't believe what just happened. Clove did not go around kissing guys. No. This was not her. True, Marvel had kissed her, but still. Now she could see why Cato was so worried about their friendship. She actually cared about Marvel; she didn't kill him when he kissed her. Fuck. He was her only friend and now that was shot to shit.

"Shit, Clove." Marvel said. "I didn't... I mean, I don't... Fuck." Clove couldn't even speak. She didn't know what to say or do. "Clove..." She heard him shift behind her, knowing he meant to put a hand on her shoulder. She tensed visibly right before he did, and so he froze, pulling back. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" She whipped around, visibly shaking with anger. "You're _sorry?"_ Marvel took a step back. She looked just as murderously angry as she felt. "Sorry for fucking things up? Well it's too late, cuz you did. I knew nothing good could come of caring about other people. Nothing good ever comes of being _friends_." She spat the last word like a curse.

"Clove-" Marvel started, but was interrupted by a low, unfriendly voice. "What's going on over here?" They both looked toward the cornucopia, where Cato stood leaning up against it with his arms crossed. His face was unreadable, and Clove couldn't tell if he had seen or if he hadn't.

"Nothing. It's nothing." Clove finally said.

"Clove are you-" Marvel started.

She cut him off with a look that said 'drop it,' before saying, "Forget about it." Then stalking past Cato without so much as a glance.

Marvel ran a hand through his hair as Cato stared him down. "So _friend_, wanna tell me the truth?" Cato was no longer as friendly with Marvel as he had become during the games.

"Like Clove said, it's nothing." Marvel said robotically, moving to walk away.

Cato grabbed him hard by the upper arm, and then said in his ear. "Damn right it's nothing. And it always will be. And I don't really care if your blonde bimbo best friend just died, because if you ever do what I just saw you do again, I'll break every bone in your pathetic body."

Marvel's temper flared, and he yanked his arm out of Cato's hand, and then pushed Cato back a step. "And if you ever talk about Glimmer like that again, I'll be sure to do the same to you."

They stared each other down for a few minutes. Suddenly, Cato looked over Marvel's shoulder, and then pointed, their face off momentarily forgotten. "Look!" Marvel turned cautiously, and saw smoke, most likely from a fire, somewhere off in the woods.

"Someone has started a fire." Marvel said.

"Clove!" Cato called, and then turned back to Marvel. "This isn't over, by the way." He told him. "I'll deal with you later."

Without another word to Marvel, he jogged toward Clove, pointing out the smoke, and most likely telling her they were going on a hunt for whatever idiot was dumb enough to start a fire.

Marvel jogged over just as Clove was saying, "That is one of the stupidest things you've said since we've gotten into the arena. And you've said some really stupid things. He should stay her and watch the supplies." Clove said, gesturing to the District 3 boy.

"He's coming. We need him in the woods and his job's done here anyway. No one can touch those supplies," Cato told her, ignoring her jab at his intelligence.

"What about Lover Boy?" Marvel said, interrupting their argument.

"I keep telling you to forget about him. I know where I cut him. It's a miracle he hasn't bled to death yet. At any rate, he's in no shape to raid us." Cato said, as they continued packing up for their hunt. He grabbed a spear off of the ground, then thrust it into the District 3 boy's hands. "Come on." He said to Clove and Marvel, clearly meaning he was coming with them. "When we find her, I kill her in my own way, and no one interferes." Cato said suddenly. Marvel guessed that would be Cato's way to take out his anger at Marvel and possibly Clove. And she did drop a tracker jacker nest on them. Clove shot Marvel a look, but stayed silent.

All of them jogged off into the woods, Clove fell into the lead almost immediately, the boys right behind her, the District 3 boy trailing a ways behind.

"There's no one here..." She said when they made it to the first fire. She'd surveyed the whole area.

"How can you be so sure?" The District 3 boy asked after catching his breath.

"Trust me, I'm sure." She said. "Which means we wasted almost an hour for nothing." That's when Clove looked up with a confused look on her face and points out a second fire. "Something isn't right..." She said slowly.

"We should head back... screw whoever's fire that is; something's up. And I intend to fin out what." Cato said, and they started heading back to their base.

They had almost made it back when they heard a huge explosion. It shook the ground. They all looked at each other fearing the worst. Cato pulled ahead of Clove, barreling into the plain. Clove and Marvel, then the District 3 boy, stepped into the clearing and stopped dead. Their were burnt supplies everywhere, and the whole area stunk of smoke. Where their supplies once stood piled high was only a smoldering pile of wreckage.

And Cato had officially lost it. He was screaming and throwing things, practically tearing his hair out in rage.

"Are they all done or do you think any mines are left?" Clove asked. The District 3 boy threw a few stones into the wreckage before declaring they were all activated. They all moved closer to the wreckage. Cato was kicking open various containers, still throwing a temper tantrum. Clove rolled her eyes, but avoided looking at Marvel. They poked around the rubble, trying to find anything that could have survived the wreckage. But there's nothing. Clove starts to really panic for the first time in the games; they have no supplies. None. Only what that had carried with them. Which was definitely enough (she hoped), but now they would have to be extremely overly careful to conserve what the had left.

Cato turns on the District 3 boy when he realizes there's nothing left. "What the hell happened, huh? We had a deal that if you protected the supplies we wouldn't kill you. Do these supplies look protected to you? HUH? DO THEY?"

The District 3 boy tried to run, but Cato caught him in a headlock from behind. Before Clove or Marvel could protest, Cato sharply jerks the boy's head to the side. The cannon fires immediately, signifying his death.

Clove and Marvel moved to Cato almost immediately, knowing they had to stop his temper tantrum somehow. "Cato, calm down." Marvel said.

"I know you are pissed, but think, if this happened to our supplies, whoever caused it is probably dead. Blown sky high. We wouldn't have even heard the cannon, because of the explosion. Take solace in that." Clove went to touch him but he pushed her hand away. Clove lost her own temper, which she had been controlling so well, after that action. "Cato, could you try not to act like a five year old for five seconds while we try and get everything sorted?" Clove realized her mistake a second too late.

Cato grabbed her around the throat with one hand; he was lifting her in the air before she could even react.

"CATO!" Marvel shouted. "What are you doing?"

Cato ignored Marvel, looking only at Clove. "I don't recall asking for your opinion, Clove. Funny how you always feel the need to share it." He said with contempt in his voice, cocking his head to the side.

"Cato, let her go!" Marvel shouted again, grabbing his shoulder. Cato just shoved him away, still focusing on Clove. Only on her. Always on her.

She scratched at his hands, gasping for air. "Cato, what... are you... doing?" She choked. She looked into his eyes and saw nothing. He wasn't there. This time he was really gonna kill her. She gave up trying to fight him and tried to grab a knife from her vest, but with her lack of air and inability to see her knives she was having difficulty getting one out. "Fine, you wanna kill me, then kill me. Go on, do it. Kill me. What are you waiting for? DO IT! JUST DO IT ALREADY! I dare you." Then she saw something, a little flicker of humanity, in his eyes. His grip loosened a bit, but she still couldn't get enough air.

Suddenly, Cato lurched, a look of surprise on his face as his hand released her throat. She fell to the ground and then was no longer suffocating. She lay on her back and took gasping breaths as she tried to pull in the glorious air that she had been deprived of for almost too long.

She looked up, disoriented, and saw Marvel on top of Cato, spear at his throat. "You do that again, I will kill you myself." She realized that Marvel has saved her life, he had pushed Cato.

"I'd like to see you try." Cato spat at him. He then pushed Marvel away, standing. "Besides, this doesn't concern you."

"Uh when you try and kill someone in OUR alliance, it does."

He looked at Marvel, snarl on his face. "You're pathetic..." He said, and then looked down at Clove. "Both of you."

He turned and walked away from them, going to sit by the lake to stew in his anger. His words were like a punch to the stomach to Clove. She sat there barely breathing, not really seeing anything or hearing anything. Just his words, which rang over and over in her head _You're pathetic... both of you... pathetic... pathetic_.

"Clove, will you answer me?" Marvel's voice broke through as he crouched in front of her, grabbing her shoulders.

"What?" She said, confused. She had not heard him ask her anything.

"Are you okay?" He said, looking at her with worry.

She nodded numbly, hating the way he looked at her. Marvel pitied her and she saw it on his face often. That was one of the few things that Clove just couldn't take. She didn't need pity from anyone. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He asked. "You were almost just choked to death."

She touched her neck absentmindedly. "I'm alive, aren't I?" He stood, and looked down at her in a way that made her squirm. "Sorry... thanks, I guess." He held out a hand to help her up but she stood up on her own, ignoring her hand.

"It's okay. But why did you push him like that?" He said seriously.

She shrugged. "I never knew when to stop. I still don't clearly."

"Clove, he just tried to kill you." Marvel said, a look of disbelief on his face. "That's on him... not you."

"Oh right, as if he would have actually killed me." She said. "He was bluffing."

"I don't think so Clove... can't you see it? He's different." Marvel said, slowly shaking his head. "He actually attempted to kill you. If it was anyone else it wouldn't bother me, but it was you Clove. If he tried to kill you, then he's clearly snapped."

"No, Marvel, you don't know him like I do. He's just on edge because we've lost our supplies. He'll cool down. Cato always does-"

"WHOEVER HE IS, WHATEVER HE'S BECOME, IT'S NOT CATO!" Marvel finally shouted at her, losing patience with her excuses. When he saw the look in her eyes he toned it down a little bit. "Not anymore, anyways. The Cato we knew is completely gone."

"That's not true!" Clove shouted back. "He's in there somewhere, I saw it, I saw him!"

"No, you _wanted_ to see it." Marvel said with frustration.

"You know what Marvel, I'm sick of hearing you tell me off like you know me. YOU DON'T KNOW ME! We've known each other less than a month. Remember that. And remember that we are here to kill each other! Because you've clearly forgotten that, just like Glimmer did." She said, and he felt as if she had struck him. She surveyed him one more time before stalking away without another word.

They all 3 stayed as far away from each other as possible the rest of the day. By nightfall, after they show the fallen, the boys from District 3 and 10, they all realized that whoever had done it, and they knew who had done it, was not dead. Wordlessly, they all 3 prepared, and went in the woods to hunt. But it wasn't clear any longer whether they were hunting together, as a group of people with an alliance, or if the were hunting near each other, waiting for the right moment to strike each other down.


	16. Chapter 16

**Dear FAITHFUL readers,**

**So sorry it's been so long since an update! I have schoolwork up to my eyeballs. But I had some free moments here and there and finally finished the next chapter, it is kind of short so I apologize for that. But hopefully I can finish the next chapter relatively quickly at this point. I know that they announce the thing about two people from the same district being able to both be victors that night but I will include that part in the next chapter, so don't freak out, ok? However I'm sure I'm the only one really freaking out about that/the timeline of events. Now I hope you enjoy this, sorry for my rambling. And thanks to those still reading and to those who review! It makes my day to get your feedback. Okay I've taken up enough of your time with this author's note. ENJOY!**

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After a long night of unsuccessful hunting, Clove and Cato were sitting on opposite sides of their old fire pit. Clove and Marvel had kind of made up in the way that they were sure they wouldn't kill each other. With that assurance, Marvel slept while the other two kept watch.

Clove and Cato, on the other hand, hadn't spoken since the incident. Clove stared at him openly while he sharpened the blade of his sword, completely entranced. She always knew Cato had a bloodlust no one could rival. But Marvel had a point; yesterday it reached a new high, because Cato had really tried to murder her. He wanted to and he would've if Marvel hadn't intervened. And while Clove was not one to be all emotional or easily offended, she was hurt.

She was also starting to realize that she was losing Cato to the Games. She was already insane before the games, but Cato had never been as psycho as she had. But that was changing, and changing quickly. She was still practically in denial over her almost-death at the hands of her former (and she guessed still kind of current) lover. She used to think that she could trust him. Now she wasn't so sure.

Her mental musings had gotten to her, and she sighed aloud, looking away from him. She saw Cato look up at her questioningly out of the corner of her eye, but he didn't say a word.

"I should've listened to Brutus." Clove said, breaking their silence, looking at him.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Cato said, standing up, holding her gaze. His words were harmless enough, but they sounded threatening, as if Clove was treading on dangerous ground.

"You changed." She rubbed her neck (which was still purple from where he had choked her) as she for the first time in her life actually straight up spoke what was on her mind without the filter. "Everything changed."

"This isn't about yesterday is it?" He said, rolling his eyes, walking over to her.

Clove looked up at him, stunned. "You mean when you tried to kill me? Um yea, it kind of is." She said, standing, infuriated.

"I'm sorry I choked you." He said in a way that suggested he didn't really understand the gravity of his previous actions. He was being playful Cato, which didn't fit with the psycho Cato who he had been just yesterday. "I can make it better."

He went in to kiss her and she turned her head. "Cato, cut it out." She said, pushing him back a bit.

He looked at her confused. "What's wrong?"

"What part of '_you tried to kill me yesterday'_ are you not getting?" She said with disbelief.

"Oh _come on_, Clove." Cato said in that way that usually made her cave because it made her feel ridiculous and petty. All it did now was serve to anger her more considering he was belittling his attempt to murder her. "I wasn't gonna kill you. We fight all the time and I've never actually killed you. You're just overreacting." He continued on, brushing the whole thing off like it was no big deal.

"Overacting? You're one to talk."

"Okay I get it; you're mad at me. I'm being a hypocrite and I crossed the line yesterday." He said, as if it wasn't a big deal that he almost killed her earlier.

"No, you really _don't_ get it." She said, trying to move around him but he blocked her way.

"Well then tell me what I don't get Clove, instead of running away from all of your problems." He said, purposely trying to piss her off now.

"What is that supposed to do, Cato? Hurt me? Make me cry?" She questioned. "You should know me better than that by now."

"Oh trust me, I do. I don't expect to make you cry." He said, leaning up against the cornucopia, smirk on his face with his arms crossed. "You have to have feelings to cry."

"You know what Cato, you are kind of pissing me off more than usual." She said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, is that a fact?"

"Huh. I didn't think that was possible." Clove and Cato both looked to where Marvel had been sleeping; he stood now, looking awake and awkward. Cato gave him a death glare that told him he had intruded on a personal conversation, so he put up his hands in mock surrender and said, "Well I can see this is clearly none of my business. So I'll leave you two to work out your issues while I go hunt for other tributes."

"Marvel, that's really not necessary."

"It's all good, really. Besides, I'll never kill anyone with two arguing and screaming at one another." Marvel walked off, saying over his shoulder. "I shouldn't be too long. See you guys in a bit."

Clove stepped away from Cato after that, and turned her back to him. Sitting a good distance away from him. He eventually sat down on the ground himself, but made sure not to sit anywhere near Cove. The two of them sat in silence for what felt like an eternity.

"You know, I really do hate you sometimes." Clove said out of nowhere.

It hit Cato that this time, Clove wasn't just being playful; not like she used to anyway. He realized that she was really actually starting to hate him. That thought stung him more than any tracker jacker sting could; and it cut him deeper than any knife of hers ever had. "I know." Was all Cato could bring himself to say.

Clove realized she had hurt him with her words; she had wanted to after all. He deserved it after all the crap he put her through. But seeing it in front of her face... she couldn't help but take a step towards him. She stopped herself though, trying to fight the urge to give in to him. It looked to Cato like she was about to say something but a loud cannon sounded.

Clove's eyes went wide as saucers as her head whipped towards the woods that Marvel had disappeared into a couple of hours earlier. Cato came to stand beside her, looking at the woods as well. Any minute, Marvel would burst back through. Any moment he would come bragging to them how he had gotten the "girl on fire" without them, and it was easy. They waited... and waited; but nothing happened. Clove finally said, "Do you think he actually did it? Could she be dead?" Then a look of uncertainty flashed across her face before her expression went blank again. "Or do you think he's-"

"I don't know." Cato said, suddenly irritated at the mention of Marvel; or more specifically, at Clove's very poorly hidden concern for Marvel. Cato still hadn't confronted Clove about the kiss he had seen between Clove and Marvel. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to; all he was sure about is that he really just wanted distance from Clove at the moment. "He's probably just taking his damn sweet time because he can; you know Marvel. He'll want to make a grand entrance. I'll bet he's fine." Cato said, turning away from her, sitting a few yards away. She looked at him with a hint of confusion, but didn't comment on his strange behavior. "Let's just wait for now."

Clove sat down herself, laying out all of her knives in front of herself. That's when the second cannon fired. Clove froze, her hand hovering over the knife she had been reaching for. They were both stunned and confused, but neither of them let it show on their faces. Clove looked to Cato. "What does that mean?" She asked evenly, grabbing the knife she had been reaching for. No one watching would know, but Cato did; he knew Clove and he could tell she was worried.

Cato thought about just ignoring her and not answering. One look at her face and he just couldn't do that. "I don't know." Cato answered honestly, thinking of all the different possible meanings and events that could've lead to the two cannons firing. "The cannons might not even be related to one another; they could indicate two completely separate altercations. We'll see soon enough." He added.

After that, they didn't talk anymore. Cato just sat a fair distance from Clove, waiting for Marvel to return. Clove practiced throwing her knives, while Cato just sharpened his sword. Time kept ticking by and Marvel was nowhere to be found.

"He's not back yet." Clove said, breaking their silence as it started getting dark. "Something is wrong."

Cato was fed up with her excessive concern for Marvel's safety. Who was Marvel, really, in the grand scheme of things? "Even if he is dead, we're better off without him." Cato said, knowing as soon as the words left his mouth that it was harsh, even for him.

Clove snapped her head in his direction, narrowing her eyes at him. "How can you say that? He's been a great addition to our alliance."

Cato nodded. "True. But I stand by what I said."

"Why?" Clove demanded.

"I just do." Cato said, avoiding her gaze.

"Really? We're playing this game now?" Clove said, frustrated. "We've been over this before. I can't read your mind Cato, so why don't we just skip this whole part where I try guessing what's up your ass." When he didn't respond to her, she stomped her little feet over to him and stood in front of him with her arms crossed. She looked down at him, demanding. "Don't make me ask you again." She said in a dangerous voice as she looked down at him.

Cato stood to face her; he didn't like how she was questioning him. If anyone should be getting questioned, it should be her. "Because I saw you with Marvel, Clove." He said, unable to hold it back anymore. He stared at her with accusing eyes.

She looked confused for a second, and then she got it; he could tell because she went pale. She let a flicker of shock, then fear, fly across her face; then she was a blank slate again. It pissed him off, as per usual. "It was an accident." She finally said in a small voice.

"An accident? An accident?!" Cato roared at her. She didn't even flinch. She knew Cato well enough to know that it was coming. "Really? That's what you're gonna go with?"

"Yes, because it's true." Clove said, her voice even. "And for the record, he kissed me, not the other way around."

"Well you sure as hell took your time pulling away." Cato said. When she did not react, he added, "Besides I'm pretty sure kissing someone back is almost as bad as initiating the kiss in the first place."

Clove just held his eye contact, refusing to look away with guilt. "It was a mistake, Cato." She would not give him the satisfaction of shaming her because she didn't feel she was in the wrong; but this only made him angrier.

"Oh was it really?" He taunted her, getting right in her face. "Then why don't I believe you?"

"Because you've clearly lost the little sanity you ever had!" She shouted, finally losing her temper.

"And as usual, you're ever the hypocrite." He said, looking her up and down with disgust.

"You're one to talk Cato!" She spat at him. "As I recall, you're the one who slept with the blonde bimbo. And correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time I checked, fucking is a lot worse than a kiss!"

Cato did realize he was wrong, but he refused to admit it to her. Seeing her smug about being right would make him lose his mind. "OH, so you're gonna throw that in my face again, are you?"

"If you insist on dangling this thing with Marvel over my head then yes, I will. Because someone needs to remind you that this is not a one way street." She said with exasperation. "And I'm not gonna put up with that anymore." She said, turning away.

"Where are you going? What does that mean? Don't just walk away from me!" He said, knowing full well he sounded like a small child.

She turned back and look at him, saying, "It means that you need to get your shit together. Because you don't get to just tell me what to do anymore, Cato." With that, she walked back over to her knives and continued throwing them, but with new vehemence.

She threw her knives until it got too dark to see, then she just got her night vision glasses and continued throwing. Cato sat away from her by a fire he had built.

The anthem started playing, and the Panem symbol shined in the sky. Clove took of off her glasses and stared hard at the sky. Cato was watching Clove instead.

The first face that Clove saw made her feel like she was falling and she would never stop; Marvel was dead. That thought echoed in her head; her only company besides Cato, the only person that made Cato's temper tantrums bearable, was dead. She tried to hold onto her sanity thinking that maybe, just maybe, Marvel had managed to take out Katniss before he died. That would make it all worth it. But instead of her, the little girl from District 11's face flashed in the sky. Clove couldn't even process what she was seeing. Then, the sky went blank.

Now Cato was pissed. Katniss kept making fools out of them, of him, and it was about damn time she paid for it. He punched a tree, hard. He barely felt it. He was pretty sure he actually did more damage to the tree than to his hand. He had been lost in his own thoughts so deeply that he had forgotten about Clove, until he heard a piercing scream tear out of her throat.

He turned to look at her, startled by her scream. She was enraged as she had been the night before they had entered the games. Oh no, not again. Cato thought. He sometimes regretted pulling her feelings to the surface; when she raged, she was just as bad as Cato himself, if not worse. He realized that she was going for her knives. He really should let her hurt herself; that was mostly likely what she as going to do. But he really couldn't let her do it. Even if they had issues, she was still his district partner.

"Bad idea, Clove." He said warning, getting in her way before she could reach them; she had thrown all of them into a tree when practicing earlier or she wouldn't need to retrieve them. He thanked the lord she had been practicing earlier.

"Get out of my way Cato." She said through gritted teeth, clenching her fists at her sides.

"I can't do that." He said, shaking his head.

"I mean it. MOVE." She shouted at him.

"That's not going to happen, Clove." He said, more forcefully this time. Clove tried to get around him, but he had figured she would try that. He grabbed her and held her tightly to his chest. She screamed at him and beat on his chest and called him a dirty bastard, and any other name she could think of. She did not cry this time, but it lasted longer than her last temper tantrum had. Cato just weathered her abuse so that she wouldn't hurt herself, knowing that she would do the same thing for him.

She started to quiet. her temper subsiding a bit, and Cato sunk down to a sitting position, pulling her into his lap. They sat like that for a while. Then Clove did the strangest thing; she looked up at him, and for the first time (willingly) since they had entered the arena, she pressed her lips against his.

Cato immediately responded; up until this moment, he hadn't realized just how much he really missed it. He remembered where they were and pulled back, looking down at her. "What about the Games? What about what you said earlier-"

"To be honest, I don't give a flying fuck. About any of it." Clove said, pulling his face down to hers, kissing him hard. He gladly obliged. Neither of them really gave a shit that all of Panem was watching them. Clove was angry and needed the sedation being physical with Cato gave her. And even though she would never admit it to him, she had missed it. The Games had changed everything; they had changed the two of them in ways Clove had never even imagined. But none of that mattered anymore. For the first time in a long time, Clove fell asleep in Cato's arms.


	17. Chapter 17

**Dear Readers, **

**Happy thanksgiving! Hope you enjoy this holiday present! It's not really related to thanksgiving at all... just thought you would enjoy an update. R&R guys! Thanks:)**

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_ Clove and Cato were standing face to face in the clearing of a forest. Clove instantly felt deja vu. She felt like she had been here, in this exact situation, feeling these same feelings before. Everything from the devastated look on his face to her instinct that she was in danger felt eerily familiar. She knew she should be making a fight or flight choice immediately, but she somehow knew she wouldn't be doing either one of those things._

_ She stayed rooted to the spot in which she stood, staring back at Cato. It was like she wasn't even in her own shoes anymore; it was as if she was watching the situation play out from outside her body. She had a feeling she knew where the situation was going, but knew she was powerless to stop it. _

_ She suddenly struck out with her knife against him; he grabbed her by the wrist before she could make contact. He squeezed her wrist so hard that her hand involuntarily loosened on the weapon and dropped it. Somehow, she had known this exact exchange would take place, and yet she still initiated it._

_ She tried to punch him with her other hand, but he had been expecting that; he had ducked the punch and then rammed her in the stomach with his shoulder, smashing her into a tree. She had gotten the breath knocked out of her but she managed to recover quickly enough to duck out of Cato's grip and get away from the tree so as to not be cornered. She was losing her mind, that was the only explanation for how she knew the exact pattern of their actions._

_ "Clove, wait!" She forced herself to take a step backwards. As soon as her foot hit the ground, Cato's eyes were full of alarm. He grabbed her tightly by her arms. She tried to push away from him, but he was holding her too tight._

_ He then slid his hand up to the back of her neck, pulling her head towards his, resting his forehead against her. He was breathing heavy, eyes closed. She closed her eyes too, reveling in the moment. "I'm sorry." _

_ All of this was too strange; it was like she had lived it before but couldn't change it at all; and she knew what was coming next, but she was dreading it more than anything in the world. Even knowing all of this, she couldn't stop herself from asking the question she already knew the answer to. "For what?" Clove asked automatically._

_ "This." Suddenly she felt him shift and then she felt a intense pain unlike any other in her stomach. She knew it had been coming, and yet she was still so shocked she couldn't even manage a scream. Her eyes flew open, looking down. He had run her completely through with his sword. She looked back up in his eyes and saw nothing. She felt her body going numb, and then she was falling and screaming into the black._

Clove woke up screaming. She quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. She looked over at Cato, and realized he was still asleep. He always could sleep through anything. Clove stood up, putting on her night vision glasses so that she would not get surprised by another tribute.

Then, without anything else to do, she sat down with her back against the cornucopia, watching Cato as he slept, his chest rising and falling slowly. She spun a knife in between her fingers as she watched him sleep, eyes locked on him unbreakably, as if she were in a trance.

It had been only a day since Marvel had died. A day since she and Cato had finally put aside all the bullshit and done what they always did; used each other for comfort and distraction. A day since Clove finally felt whole again for the first time since she had entered the games. And it had been a day since Clove had unknowingly put her guard down around Cato; and that was something she was not okay with.

She didn't realize how much her own mind rejected the notion of trusting Cato until a few moments ago; waking from the same nightmare she had experienced the night before they entered the arena. Clearly she trusted Cato consciously more than she did subconsciously.

And why should she really even trust him? He had proven over and over again that he was not worthy of being trusted. He had slept with Glimmer and he had tried to kill her; those being two of the many examples of why Cato was not to be trusted. And of course, there was the fact that they were in the middle of the Hunger Games with only six tributes left alive. That meant they were nearing the bitter end; five more people would die before this game was over. And one of those people would be Cato or Clove; there was no way around it, no happy ending where they both survived. The outcome looked grim. Clove couldn't afford to trust Cato any longer. If she did, she could find herself dead.

She hadn't realized just how deeply entranced she was until the sound of trumpets (following the showing that zero deaths had taken place that day, despite her and Cato's efforts to hunt down any of the four other tributes). She was so startled that the knife she had been playing with flew out of her hand, landing a few feet away. The trumpets had woken Cato, and when he saw the knife sticking straight up and down out of the ground only a foot away from his head, he rose his eyebrow at her. She averted her eyes, refusing to look at him.

Claudius Templesmith's voice echoed from overhead, congratulating the six remaining tributes. "He's probably just announcing the feast." Clove said. "It's getting to be that time-"

"Shh, wait a minute." Cato interrupted her, finger to her lips. Clove glared at him, but then realized immediately why he was silencing her. They weren't being invited for a feast. She caught the tail end of the sentence; the only words she heard were "A rule change." But that was all she needed to hear to know this was important, and she really listened closely now.

"Under this new rule," Boomed Claudius Templesmith's voice, "both tributes from the same district will be declared winners if they are the last two alive." Clove froze completely. She wasn't even sure if she was breathing. Cato's eyes widened to the size of saucers but that was about all he showed. As if he realized it wasn't sinking in, Claudius repeated himself. Then the announcement is over.

The silence was deafening as Cato and Clove sat frozen, not moving, not saying a word for what seemed like eternity. Clove knew they were both thinking the same thing; _There is no way in hell that this is real._ In the 74 years of the Hunger Games, there has NEVER been a rule change. Never, not ever, not even once. It had to be a lie, or some sort of trick. Or it was for _them_, Clove thought to herself, practically sneering. For the fake star-crossed idiots of District 12. But that didn't even matter; because they may be making a "rule change" to appease the audience and play up loverboy and the girl on fire... but there is no way that in the end, even if the two managed to make it until then, that they would let them both live. And anyone who trusted the Capitol would keep their word was an idiot.

"Clove?" Cato's voice, softer than she had ever heard it, broke her from her thoughts.

She looked up at him, startled that he had moved to be standing in front of her. She hadn't even noticed him move. "Yea?"

"Did you hear what he just said?" Cato asked, putting his hand out to pull her to her feet.

Clove just stared at his hand, and then up to him, slowly realizing that they had not been thinking the same thing at all. "I heard."

"And?" He asked expectantly. "There is only one other pair left, and LoverBoy doesn't have that much time left if I cut him where I think I did... And-"

She still didn't take his hand. "And what Cato? You have got to be kidding me. Don't tell me you actually believe that this _rule change_ is going to stand? In the end, they could just make another rule change. It wouldn't matter which two were left... there can only be one. It's always been that way."

"But there has never been a rule change before now, and I don't think they'll make two in the same year-"

"Cato, if you believe that, then you are a bigger idiot than I thought."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He asked, yanking her up by her arm. Cato was starting to get angry, she could tell. He was being stupid though, and she couldn't afford to let either of them to lose focus at a time like this.

"It means they made the rule change because they felt like it, and what if they feel like changing it again? Nothing will stop them. They can do whatever they want, and the Games is proof of that." She said simply.

"That doesn't sound like the Clove I know." He said searching her eyes.

"Cato, I was never one to hold on to false hope." She said flatly.

He let out a breath, running a hand through his hair. Then he gripped both od her upper arms tightly. "Okay, I get why you are skeptical, but what if it isn't false hope, Clove? Huh? What then?"

She stared at him hard. "You really believe we have a chance."

"Don't you?" He asked seriously.

"Cato, I don't expect anything anymore." He let his hand fall from her arm with those words.

"Even if you don't believe it, isn't it worth a try?"

"Cato if it comes down to it and they remove the rule change..." She struggled to put it into words... mostly because it made her look weak. But at this point, she wasn't sure how strong she really was anymore. "I can't kill you. I won't."

"And you think I can kill you?" He asked, sounding offended.

"You act like you wouldn't, but I know better." She said, turning away from him. "Can we just forget about this whole fantasy of the both of us getting out alive thing and stick to our plan? This is no time to get distracted."

"This is not about the possibility of a fake rule change is it? This is about the huge load of dysfunction we have going on, isn't it?"

Clove froze, refusing to turn and look at him, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right. "What are you talking about Cato?"

"I'm talking about us, this." She heard him take a step toward her, and she instinctively tensed. "And I may want to punch you in the mouth sometimes, but that is just us. We are fucked up together. And I don't care if the whole Capitol knows that I love you." Clove didn't move, didn't say anything. "I know you love me Clove."

"That is the weakest thing you have ever let yourself say." She said to him, but the edge in her voice was gone.

He put his hand on her shoulder, turning her around to face him. "Clove...Tell me that you don't love me." Cato demanded suddenly, challenging her. He had her backed into a corner. But she didn't love him. She did not and she could not. There was no way. Sure they had been through a ton together, but love? Clove didn't do love. Love meant weakness, and she was _not_weak.

"I don't love you." She told him, but she heard how her mouth rejected the words; her breathing hitched and her voice was flat. She cursed herself, not sure why she reacted this way. It was true after all.

For a second, Cato and her just stared at one another; the only thing that was heard was their breathing and the crackle of the fire. Finally, Cato leaned down to her and pressed his lips against hers, and she fought against him immediately. She went to grab a knife from her vest, but he grabbed her wrists, forcing them up against the tree. He kissed her neck. "Cato, stop it!" Clove hissed, her mouth now free. "Cato-" He bit down on her neck and her body betrayed her; her eyes snapped shut and she wasn't quick enough to bite back a moan of pleasure.

"Are you sure?" He said with his usual arrogance. "Because it doesn't sound like you want me to stop."

Before she could respond, he crashed his lips on her again. She couldn't cave. She wouldn't. She refused. She tried to turn her head away, but he grabbed her face with the hand not holding her wrists, forcing his lips on hers, opening her mouth with his own and invading it with his tongue. She bit his tongue, but that just got him going even more. He pressed his body against hers, and she tried so hard to fight it but she just couldn't anymore. She was just as powerless against him as she always had been.

She kissed him back with as much raw emotion as he kissed her. He let go of her wrists and gripped her by the ass. She gasped into his mouth and he smirked into hers. He pulled her body up, and she went with him, wrapping her legs around his waist like they were so used to doing. One of his hands ran up the side of her body, tangling into her hair. The other hand gripped her thigh tightly, scratching up her leg. He ground his body into hers, and he groaned in pleasure. He did it over and over and she wasn't objecting.

Finally he broke the kiss, and both of them were breathing hard. In her ear he whispered, "So do you want to try that again? Because I didn't quite buy that you don't love me. Did you?"

Clove was enraged at his tactics. She grabbed onto the tree and pulled her legs back, kicking him hard in the stomach. "Screw you." She spat at him, turning away.

"Where are you going?" He said angrily, grabbing her by the upper arm.

"Away from you." She snapped, pulling her arm away from his. "I don't have to prove anything to anyone. Least of all to you." She said, turning to walk away.

"And yet your whole life you've been trying to prove yourself to everyone around you, including me... and your parents..." She stopped dead in her tracks. He knew he was getting to her.

"Not another word, Cato." She warned him.

Cato continued like she hadn't spoken at all. "To prove you don't need any of them, that you are superior, that you are a victor." Clove was shaking visibly with anger.

"That's not true." She whipped around, looking at him with volatile desperation.

"If it isn't true then why are you getting so upset?" He pushed.

"Cato stop it right now." She said, trying to keep her voice as even as possible.

If he knew what was best for him, he would've stopped there and let her walk away and cool off. He didn't. "You know what? I don't see a victor. No, I see a psychotic little girl who will never amount to anything. Just like everyone always said." Cato knew how wrong of him it was to say her worst nightmare out loud, but he couldn't stop himself.

Clove cleared the space between them in the matter of what seemed like a split second. She used his body weight against him and tripped him so that she he fell with her on top of him. She slammed him hard into the ground, her knife pressing into his throat and she was screaming, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP! DON'T TALK ANYMORE! SAY NOTHING!" The look in her eyes was that of a feral animal, but he saw they looked glassy, which was as close to crying over this as she would come. "No more talking." She insisted. And he nodded, accepting it- mostly because he really fucked up this time and he knew it. He would be silent as long as she stayed with him. They stayed like that for what felt like hours.

"Christ you are easier to get to then you used to be." He said quietly and slid his hand up her wrist, holding it tightly. With his other hand he took the blade out of her hand; she barely resisted.

"Well that is your fault. Just like everything else." She said.

"I have turned you into a temper-tantrum pro, haven't I?" He said, putting his hand to his throat absentmindedly. "I think you might have actually nicked me."

"And yet, I still can't get rid of you. You would think me constantly putting your life on the line would caution you against being a first rate jackass."

"And yet... it really doesn't." He smirked up at her, sliding his hand up to cup her cheek. "You know I didn't mean all those things... I was throwing my own form of temper tantrum."

"Yea, well, what else is new?" She said rolling her eyes at him.

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?" He asked.

"That means I'm not going to cut your dick off. No one said anything about forgiveness. But if this rule change is real, I'm gonna need you on your A-game, and that means I can't have you bleeding out, even if I'm the one who caused it."

"Did you just say what I think you said?"

"I said if. I will believe it when I see it. Until then let's just go about our business as if it is real."

"Ladies and gentlemen, Clove Carson is being reasonable!" Cato shouted. "I am so glad someone got this moment on camera."

"Yea yea yea, you win. Shut your pie-hole; be lucky I am choosing not to gut you yet." She said.

"Didn't someone say something about no more talking?" He asked, pulling her closer to him, if that was even possible.

"Yea, and I'm saying it again; no more talking." She said, letting him pull her face down to his. He flipped her over so she was on her back, and he hovered over her. He started kissing her neck, and she dug her nails into his back.

He paused, his mouth moving until it was right next to her ear. "I know you said no more talking but this needs to be said. I am sorry. And I may be weak, but I don't care; you are the reason I'm weak. I love you even though your psychotic; because I am just as insane as you are. And now that we can both actually make it out of this alive, I need you to be with me to make it work. Are you with me? Because if not, we might as well go our separate ways right now."

She hesitated, thinking it probably would be for the best for her to leave and do the rest of this on her own; but she realized he was right. She did love him; even if it was in her own sick and twisted way. Which is why she hadn't killed him, no matter what he did to her. How seconds ago she was ready to slit his throat and now she was ready to fuck his brains out. There was a thin line between love and hat, and Cato blurred the lines so much that she felt like she might hate and love him with equal measure. But as much as she hated him and everything he was and how he made her feel; he still made her feel. She nodded. "I'm with you. Now shut up and kiss me before I change my mind and dice you into little pieces." He smirked, crashing his lips down on to hers as they did what they always did; use each other to get their anger out physically.


End file.
